".-.-.- 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


•*• 


TRANS-MISSISSIPPI  AND  INTERNATIONAL 
EXPOSITION  OF  1898 


' 


EVENTS  of  the  memorable  half 
J-  century  which  the  Trans-Mississippi 
and  International  Exposition  commemorates, 
are  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the 
nation  and  are  of  surpassing  importance. 
The  mighty  West  affords  striking  evidences 
of  the  splendid  achievements  and  possibil- 
ities of  our  people.  It  is  a  matchless  tribute 
to  the  energy  and  endurance  of  the  pioneer, 
while  its  vast  agricultural  development, 
its  progress  in  manufactures,  its  advance- 
ment in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  in  all 
departments  of  education  and  endeavor, 
have  been  inestimable  contributions  to  the 
civilization  and  wealth  of  the  world. 

Nowhere  have  the  unconquerable  deter- 
mination, self-reliant  strength  and  sturdy 
manhood  of  our  American  citizenship  been 
more  forcibly  illustrated.  In  peace  or  war, 
the  men  and  women  of  the  W~est  have  ever 
been  in  the  vanguard.  I  congratulate  the 
management  upon  its  magnificent  enter- 
prise, and  assure  all  who  participate  in 
this  undertaking  of  the  deep  interest  which 
the  Government  has  in  its  success." 

WILLIAM  McKiNi.hv 


DEDICATED 

TO   THE 

ACTIVE  MEN   OF  THE  WEST 

WHOSE 

ABILITY,   ENERGY, 

AND  SELF-SACRIFICING   FIDELITY 
TO   PUBLIC   DUTY 

MADE    POSSIBLE 

A  STUPENDOUS  ACHIEVEMENT 


HISTORY 


OF   THE 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International 

Exposition 


OF   1898 


By  JAMES  B.  HAYNES 


ILLUSTRATED 


PUBLISHED    UNDER    DIRECTION    OF    THE    COMMITTEE    ON    HISTORY 
AS  AUTHORIZED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS,  JUNE  30,  1902 


1910 


TKI    RAWCROI  V  I  IBRARY 

•2. 

HS 

PREFACE 

ROM  the  moment  the  success  of  the  Trans-Missssippi  and 
International  Exposition  of  1898  was  assured,  there  was 
manifested  a  popular  desire  that  a  history  of  the  great  project 
be  published.  Every  officer  and  nearly  every  director  felt 
that  a  permanent  record  of  the  grand  achievement  should 
be  made,  not .  only  to  preserve  a  faithful  portrayal  of  its 
artistic  triumphs,  but  also  to  contain  a  chronicle  of  the  deeds  of  the  men  of 
the  West  who  planned,  fashioned  and  conducted  to  its  consummation  one  of 
the  greatest  public  enterprises  known  to  the  annals  of  the  Trans-Mississippi 
region. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  October  7,  1898,  Gen.  Charles 
F.  Manderson  offered  a  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  providing  that  material 
for  a  history  of  the  Exposition  be  collected  and  that  the  sum  of  $10,000  be 
appropriated  with  which  to  defray  the  expense  of  publication.  The  resolution 
authorized  the  President  to  appoint  a  Committee  on  History,  composed  of 
three  members  of  the  directory.  This  committee  was  empowered  to  employ 
a  suitable  person  as  historian ;  to  disburse  the  fund  as  needed ;  to  approve  the 
manuscript  and  illustrations  prepared  for  publication,  and  to  fix  the  quality 
of  binding.  It  was  provided,  further,  that  a  copy  of  the  history  be  placed  in 
the  Omaha  Public  Library;  one  in  the  library  of  the  University  of  Nebraska; 
one  in  the  library  of  the  Omaha  High  School,  and  one  in  the  library  of 
Creighton  College. 

President  Wattles  appointed  to  membership  on  the  Committee  on  History 
three  directors,  viz.,  Gen.  Charles  F.  Manderson,  Chairman;  Charles  W. 
Lyman  and  Isaac  W.  Carpenter.  The  committee  entered  upon  the  discharge 
of  its  duties,  but  was  soon  restrained  from  further  action  by  a  writ  of  injunc- 
tion based  upon  the  claim  that  the  Articles  of  Incorporation  did. not  specifically 
grant  authority  to  publish  a  history.  The  claim  was  contested,  but  the  court 
issued  a  writ  of  permanent  injunction. 

The  Board  of  Directors  met  June  30,  1902.  Chairman  Lindsey  of  the 
Executive  Committee  made  a  report  showing  a  small  cash  balance  remaining 
on  hand;  that  the  Executive  Committee  recommended  that  said  balance  be 
paid  to  the  Secretary  as  additional  compensation  for  services  rendered,  and 
for  the  preparation  of  a  "statement  of  the  organization,  operation,  manage- 
ment and  results  of  the  Exposition,  which  statement  shall  be  submitted  by 
him  to  a  committee  consisting  of  Gen.  Charles  F.  Manderson,  Chairman; 
Isaac  W.  Carpenter,  Charles  W.  Lyman,  Carroll  S.  Montgomery  and  Edward 
Rosewater,  to  be  revised  and  approved  by  said  committee."  The  report  of 


Yj'j  ;l!'l 

8  Preface 

• 

the  committee  was  unanimously  adopted.  Secretary  Wakefield  made  a  com- 
pilation of  the  salient  facts  of  the  subject  consisting  largely  of  a  series  of 
reports  of  departmental  managers,  transcripts  of  reports  of  proceedings  of 
the  meetings  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  Board  of  Directors,  and  a 
chronicle  of  the  events  incident  to  the  programs  of  special  days.  The  coniT 
pilation  proved  invaluable  in  the  preparation  of  this  history. 

A  determination  to  publish  a  history  of  the  Exposition  was  not  reached 
until  the  fall  of  1907 — nine  years  after  the  close  of  the  gates.  The  matter 
came  up  in  an  incidental  way  at  a  complimentary  dinner  at  the  Omaha  Club 
tendered  by  President  Wattles  to  the  directors  of  the  Exposition.  Very 
naturally,  the  guests  indulged  in  a  recital  of  anecdote  and  reminiscence  relating 
to  the  Exposition  season,  which  led  to  many  expressions  of  a  desire  that  a 
history  be  published.  General  Manderson,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
History,  was  asked  to  take  the  preliminary  steps  in  arranging  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  history,  leaving  to  individuals  the  option  of  subscribing  funds 
with  which  to  meet  the  necessary  expense.  Upon  request,  James  B.  Haynes 
formulated  an  outline  of  proposed  chapters,  which  was  submitted  to  the 
committee,  the  sketch  being  approved.  Pursuant  thereto  the  history  was 
written.  An  important  part  of  the  work  was  written  by  George  F.  -Bid well, 
a  director,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  vacancy  in  the  Revision  Committee 
caused  by  the  death  of  Edward  Rosewater.  Mr.  Bidwell  wrote  Chapters  II 
and  III  and  he  also  compiled  Part  II.  The  chapter  on  Architecture  was 
largely  prepared  by  C.  Howard  Walker  and  Thomas  R.  Kimball,  Archuects- 
in-chief  of  the  Exposition.  The  remaining  chapters  were  written  by  Mr. 
Haynes,  who  planned  the  entire  work.  Most  of  the  photographs  were  fur- 
nished by  Frank  A.  Rinehart,  who  was  official  photographer  of  the  Exposition. 
About  a  dozen  of  the  illustrations  were  made  from  photographs  kindly  loaned 
by  E.  L.  Lomax,  General  Passenger  Agent  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway; 
a  few  small  cuts  were  made  from  photographs  taken  by  E.  E.  Muffitt,  by 
whose  courtesy  we  were  permitted  to  use  them. 

CHARLES  F.  MANDERSON,  Chairman. 
ISAAC  W.  CARPENTER, 
CHARLES  W.  LYMAN, 
CARROLL  S.  MONTGOMERY, 
GEORGE  F.  BIDWELL. 

Committee  on  History. 


CONTENTS 


PART   I 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  PROGRESS  OF  THE  WEST 11 

II.  BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  COMPLETED  EXPOSITION  (MAP)  ...  29 

III.  HISTORIC  EVENTS  OF  THE  EXPOSITION  SEASON 55 

IV.  ARCHITECTURE  AND  ELECTRICAL  ILLUMINATIONS 105 

V.  GOVERNMENT  BUILDING  AND  EXHIBITS 143 

VI.  STATE  BUILDINGS  AND  EXHIBITS 157 

VII.  INTERNATIONAL  EXHIBITS  AND   BUILDING 189 

VIII.  DESCRIPTION  OF  GENERAL  EXHIBITS 197 

IX.  INDIAN  ENCAMPMENT 219 

X.  CONVENTIONS  AND  CONGRESSES 235 

XI.  SYNOPSIS  OF  REPORTS  OF  DEPARTMENTAL  MANAGERS....  243 

XII.  MIDWAY  PLAISANCE  AND  Music 261 

XIII.  PROMOTION 269 

XIV.  ORGANIZATION  AND  REORGANIZATION 285 

XV.  WHAT  OMAHA  DID 293 

XVI.  THE  CURTAIN  FALLS ..  323 

PART   II 

I.  PROCEEDINGS  OF  SPECIAL  DAYS  .  331 


"The  mission  of  the  Exposition  is  to  communicate  to  mankind 

the  impulses  to  which  it  owes  its  origin." 

— JOHN  J.  INGALLS. 

URING  the  prosperous  years  antedating  the  Chicago 
World's  Fair,  when  the  West  made  unexampled 
progress,  there  was  an  oft-expressed  desire  that  an 
interstate  exposition  might  be  held  in  Omaha.  The  sug- 
gestion contemplated  only  a  sectional  exhibit  of  the  products 
and  industries  of  Nebraska  and  adjoining  States,  and  was 
born  of  a  knowledge  of  the  wealth-producing  power  of  this 
region,  and  of  an  urgent  call  for  the  spreading  of  that  knowl- 
edge throughout  the  East.  The  World's  Fair  of  1893  was  a 
revelation  to  the  people  of  the  nation.  Its  unprecedented 
success  inspired  leading  men  of  population  centers  in  the  West  to 
project  similar  enterprises  in  spite  of  the  depressing  effects  of  a 
financial  panic  then  felt  throughout  the  whole  country.  California 
erected  a  mid-winter  exposition,  a  State  enterprise,  which  opened  its  gates 
in  San  Francisco  in  January,  1894.  Kansas  City  began  .to  advocate  the 
holding  of  a  mid-continent  exposition.  Denver  proposed  to  hold  a  Western 
States'  exposition,  and  raised  a  large  fund  for  the  purpose,  but  upon  further 
consideration  postponed  work  to  a  future  date,  intending  to  celebrate  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana  Territory  from  France.  Texas  planned  to  have  a 
Western  and  Southern  States'  exposition  at  Galveston.  Minneapolis  and  St. 
Paul  contemplated  a  Northwestern  States'  exposition,  and  had  begun  the 
work  of  promotion. 

Public-spirited  men  of  Omaha  took  note  of  the  progress  of  the  agitation 
for  a  Western  exposition,  and  determined  to  protect  Omaha's  interests  in 
the  matter.  In  the  fall  of  1894  the  Trans»-Mississippi  Congress  held  its  annual 
session  in  St.  Louis,  composed  of  representative  men  of  Western  States,  who 


12 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


assembled  to  discuss  measures  designed  to  promote  the  commercial  and  mate- 
rial interests  of  the  region  they  represented.  Its  delegates  held  credentials 
from  governors  of  States  and  from  mayors  of  the  larger  cities.  The  Nebraska 
delegation  in  that  Congress  presented  a  formal  invitation  to  the  Congress  to 
meet  in  Omaha  the  following  year,  which  was  accepted.  Late  in  November 
of  1895  tne  Congress  assembled  in  Omaha.  The  Nebraska  delegation  named 
a  committee  of  five  to  prepare  proposed  resolutions  to  be  presented  to  the 
Congress,  the  object  of  which  was  to  obtain  official  approval  of  the  proposal 
to  hold  an  exposition  at  Omaha  intended  to  measure  the  progress  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  States.  Hon.  William  J.  Bryan,  chosen  as  the  spokesman 

of   the   committee,   introduced   the 

following    resolution,    which    was 
unanimously  adopted : 

"WHEREAS,  We  believe  that 
an  exposition  of  all  the  products, 
industries  and  civilization  of  the 
States  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  made  at  some  central  gate- 
way where  the  world  can  behold 
the  wonderful  capabilities  of  these 
great  wealth-producing  States, 
would  be  of  great  value,  not  only 
to  the  Trans-Mississippi  States, 
but  to  all  the  homeseekers  in  the 
world;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  United 
States  Congress  be  requested  to 
take  such  steps  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  hold  a  Trans-Mississippi  exposition  at  Omaha  during  the  months  of 
August,  September  and  October,  in  the  year  1898,  and  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  such  States  and  Territories  in  Congress  be  requested  to  favor 
such  an  appropriation  as  is  usual  in  suc*h  cases  to  assist  in  carrying  out  this 
enterprise." 

In  the  assembly  which  adopted  the  resolution  after  debate  there  were 
delegates  from  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Colorado  and  Utah.  Returning  to  their 
respective  homes  they  reported  the  adoption  of  the  resolution,  which  was 
enough  to  check  the  efforts  then  being  made  in  some  of  those  States  to  gain 
recognition  for  an  exposition  city.  Thus  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress 
paved  the  way  for  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  which 
was  held  at  Omaha  from  June  to  November,  1898. 


Monarch  of  the   Plains 


Progress  of  the  West  13 

The  Bryan  resolution  set  out  in  broad  terms  the  object  and  scope  of  the 
proposed  exposition.  Later  on,  upon  the  organization  of  the  corporate  body, 
the  projectors  reiterated  the  purposes  of  the  enterprise  and  expanded  the  limits 
of  territory  which  it  was  intended  to  represent  "to  any  State  or  Territory  in 
the  United  States,"  and  contemplated  exhibits  by  the  federal  government 
and  by  foreign  States,  "for  the  purpose,  particularly,  of  exhibiting  to  the 
world  the  products,  industries  and  capabilities  of  the  States  and  Territories 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River." 

President  Wattles,  in  a  public  address,  referring  to  the  objects  of  the 
exposition,  said :  "The  Commercial  Congress  which  authorized  this  exposi- 
tion wisely  conceived  its  object  to  be  the  advancement  of  the  commercial 
interests  of  the  West.  It  is  a  demonstration  of  the  marvelous  resources  of 
the  great  West." 

In  his  oration,  which  marked  the  ceremonies  of  the  opening  day  of  the 
exposition,  John  N.  Baldwin  made  use  of  these  words:  "The  purpose  of  this 
exposition  is  to  display  the  products,  manufactures  and  industries  of  the 
States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  territory  embraced 
is  two-thirds  of  the  area  of  the  Union." 

The  first  occasion  for  a  ceremonial  was  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone 
of  the  Arch  of  States'  entrance,  originally  intended  to  be  a  permanent  struc- 
ture built  of  stone  from  each  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States  and  Territories. 

Thus  from  the  record  we  are  enabled  to  see  the  original  scope  of  the 
Exposition,  and  while  Eastern  and  Southern  States  and  foreign  nations, 
together  with  our  newly-acquired  insular  possessions,  being  invited  to  par- 
ticipate, installed  exhibits  and  erected  buildings,  yet  the  prime  object  of  the 
projectors  was  "to  demonstrate  to  the  world  the  products,  industries  and 
civilization  of  the  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  River."  In  furthering  such 
object  the  people  of  the  whole  West  soon  made  known  their  willingness  to 
participate,  and  in  every  way  possible  to  aid  the  men  who  had  assumed  the 
enormous  burden  involved  in  building  the  Exposition.  The  West,  conscious 
of  its  strength  and  of  its  wealth-producing  resources  not  yet  developed,  was 
of  one  mind  as  to  the  wisdom  and  necessity  of  making  an  extraordinary 
effort  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  people  of  the  East  by  a  colossal  object- 
lesson  of  the  marvelous  development  of  the  natural  resources  of  the  country 
between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  since  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War. 

President  McKinley,  in  his  telegram  to  the  Exposition  builders  on  the 
opening  day,  gave  evidence  of  his  sympathy  with  the  objects  sought  to  be 
attained.  He  said :  "The  events  of  the  memorable  half-century  which  the 
Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  commemorates  are  inter- 
woven with  the  history  of  the  whole  nation  and  are  of  surpassing  importance. 


14  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

The  mighty  West  affords  most  striking  evidence  of  the  splendid  achievements 
and  possibilities  of  our  people.  It  is  a  matchless  tribute  to  the  energy  and 
endurance  of  the  pioneer,  while  its  vast  agricultural  development,  its  progress 
in  manufactures,  its  advancement  in  the  arts  and  sciences  and  in  all  depart- 
ments of  education  and  endeavor  have  been  inestimable  contributions  to  the 
civilization  and  wealth  of  the  world." 


William   McKinley 

Our  President  realized,  as  did  the  projectors  of  the  Exposition,  that  its 
mission  was  to  illustrate  the  achievements  and  possibilities  of  the  people  of 
the  West.  The  completed  Exposition  gave  indisputable  evidence  that  its 
mission  was  successful. 

It  would  be  interesting  and  profitable  in  this  connection  to  make  a  brief 
study  of  influences  and  forces  which  operated  for  more  than  a  generation  in 


Progress  of  the  West  15 

fixing  the  foundations  of  greatness;  in  promoting  the  growth  and  upbuilding 
of  the  West,  and  in  facilitating  the  march  of  progress  of  its  people.  It  may 
be  worth  while  to  glance  at  the  prime  factors  which  entered  into  the  develop- 
ment of  Nature's  storehouse,  by  which  were  produced  conditions  making  an 
Exposition  possible,  for  in  the  last  analysis  the  unrivaled  success  of  the 
Omaha  Exposition  is  found  to  be  due  primarily  to  the  accumulated  wealth  of 
Western  States  which  was  derived  from  natural  products  of  the  earth  in  one 
form  or  another.  Chronicles  of  the  West  confirm  the  fact  that  the  beginning 
of  every  settlement  depended  upon  the  success  of  efforts  to  till  the  soil. 
Pioneers  from  Eastern  States  ascended  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers 
and.  their  tributaries,  bringing  horses,  plows  and  seed-corn,  venturing  all  they 
possessed  upon  the  chance  of  success  of  the  first  crop  ever  planted  in  those 
fertile  valleys.  That  eminent  Nebraskan,  the  late  J.  Sterling  Morton,  who- 
was  the  foremost  patron  of  agriculture  in  the  West,  discussing  the  part 
played  by  tillers  of  the  soil  in  laying  the  foundations  of  this  State,  said :  "All 
wealth  and  true  capital  must  arise  from  agricultural  development.  Out  of 
the  soil  alone  is  all  true  and  substantial  independence  to  be  derived.  Agri- 
culture is  the  basis  upon  which  the  superstructure  of  commerce  is  reared. 
Everywhere  throughout  the  West  were  brawny  arms  lifted  up  to  strike  the 
earth,  that  a  stream  of  plenty  and  contentment  might  flow  forth  and  bless 
the  country." 

In  all  of  the  prairie  States  the  breaking-teams  with  the  big  sod-plows 
were  in  the  van  of  industry.  Thousands  of  men,  attracted  by  the  reports  of 
discoveries  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  mountains,  traversed  and  examined  the 
plains,  finding  that  much  of  the  land  lying  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
so-called  Great  American  Desert  was  tillable.  In  this  way  the  historic 
migration  of  pioneers  to  Pike's  Peak,  following  Col.  William  Gilpin's  dis- 
covery of  gold  on  Cherry  Creek  (Denver)  in  1858,  revealed  to  the  world 
the  limitless  possibilities  of  agriculture  west  of  the  Missouri  River.  Mis- 
sourians  began  to  settle  in  Kansas,  where  they  devoted  all  their  energies  to 
plowing  and  planting  corn.  Their  success  was  heralded  throughout  the 
East,  where  companies  were  organized  to  form  colonies,  and  their  success 
in  Kansas  led  to  the  organization  of  many  similar  companies  in  the  Northern 
States.  Many  of  these  colonists  settled  in  Minnesota,  Iowa  and  Nebraska, 
and  by  the  close  of  the  war  there  began  a  mighty  inrush  of  discharged 
soldiers  and  other  ambitious  men  into  the  prairie  States.  The  discovery  of 
gold  in  the  Black  Hills  in  the  early  7o's  caused  another  notable  migration 
of  men,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  country  to  the  vast  reaches  of 
farming  land  in  the  Dakotas  and  in  Nebraska.  So  it  was  when  silver  and 
gold  were  discovered  in  the  mountains  of  Montana.  The  precious  metals 
have  proved  to  be  magnets  which  drew  the  people  into  remote  sections  of 


16 


Trans-Mississippi  and  Internationl  Exposition 


Progress  of  the  West  17 

the  wilderness,  invariably  resulting  in  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  large 
areas  of  farming  lands  in  various  sections  of  the  West.  It  may  be  important 
to  note  the  fact,  in  passing,  that  the  men  who  pioneered  the  West  in  whatever 
pursuit  were  native  Americans  who  had  inherited  from  their  forefathers  the 
true  national  spirit.  They  wrested  Texas  from  Mexico  only  to  turn  it  over 
to  the  protection  of  the  American  flag,  as  they  did  in  the  conquest  of 
California.  They  braved  the  dangers  of  the  Oregon  trail  and  established 
settlements  on  the  lower  Columbia,  where  they  planted  the  American  flag 
on  territory  over  which  Great  Britain  had  asserted  a  right  of  sovereignty  for 
nearly  fifty  years.  So  it  was  with  the  early  history  of  every  Western  State. 
Invariably  the  founders  of  these  new  commonwealths  were  native  Americans 
determined  to  take  part  in  the  great  movement  of  territorial  expansion  in 
the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

Coincident  with  the  rush  of  settlers  into  the  West  from  nearly  all  of 
the  Eastern  States  in  the  years  during  and  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War, 
came  liberal  homestead  laws  passed  by  Congress  under  the  policy  of  "free 
homes  for  the  million."  These  laws,  together  with  the  advent  of  the  railroads 
west  of  the  river,  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  immigration.  The  Government 
awarded  land  grants  to  the  pioneer  railroads  in  some  of  the  prairie  States, 
which  led  to  an  era  of  unexampled  railroad  building  and  consequent  develop- 
ment of  agricultural  resources.  After  the  pioneers  had  given  testimony  to 
the  men  of  the  East  that  the  possibilities  of  development  of  natural  resources 
were  beyond  computation,  it  would  seem  that  the  energy  and  power  of  the 
whole  nation  were  exerted  to  provide  the  means  of  settling  the  region  whose 
wonderful  progress  was  illustrated  by  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition.  No 
factor  in  this  era  of  marvelous  progress  was  comparable  with  that  of  the 
railroads.  In  1860  there  were  but  2,100  miles  of  railway  west  o£  the 
Mississippi,  and  less  than  thirty  miles  of  completed  track  west  of  the  Missouri 
River.  In  1870,  in  seven  States  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  mountains, 
there  were  10,466  miles  of  track.  In  1898  the  mileage  of  railroads  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River  was  over  80,000,  costing  over  two  billion  dollars. 

The  new  lands  of  America  have,  from  the  year  of  the  completion  of  the 
first  railroad,  waited  for  transportation  facilities,  which,  when  they  came, 
seemed  to  run  in  advance  of  material  progress.  Development  of  the  land 
depended  largely  upon  the  railroad,  which  not  only  increased  the  population, 
but  afforded  a  means  of  reaching  the  best  markets  for  the  products  of  the 
farm.  The  railroads  induced  foreign  emigrants  to  settle  in  the  West,  showed 
them  the  land  and  convinced  them  of  its  possibilities,  in  many  cases  furnish- 
ing seed-wheat  and  choice  breeding  stock  free.  The  railroad,  at  this  early 
day,  became  at  once  the  explorer,  carrier,  provider  and,  in  some  cases,  the 
tutor  in  that  epoch  of  prairie  sod-breaking  when  men  were  skeptical  of  the 


18  Trans-Mississippi  and  Internationl  Exposition 

stories  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  The  railroads  were  extended  out  into  the 
uninhabited  prairie  or  the  trackless  forest,  inviting  population  to  follow, 
assuming  the  role  of  immigration  agent,  sending  out  far  and  wide  into  the 
highways  and  byways  of  America  and  Europe,  bidding  the  people  to  come 
in  and  settle  upon  the  lands  that  had  thus  been  opened  up  to  them.  The 
story  of  the  work  of  the  railroads,  in  developing  the  wheat  industry  of  Minne- 
sota and  the  Dakotas,  is  of  itself  a  chapter  of  absorbing  interest,  for  it  is 
typical  of  the  part  played  by  every  railroad  in  the  West  in  fostering  and 
developing  the  agricultural  resources  of  the  country. 

AGRICULTURE 

One  of  the  chief  objects  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  was  to  show 
the  progress  of  the  development  of  agriculture.  The  extraordinary  exhibits 
of  productiveness  were  intended  to  convey  a  clear  idea  of  the  wealth-producing 
power  of  the  farms  and  ranges  attained  up  to  the  year  1898.  Estimates  based 

upon  the  most  reliable 
returns  available  place  the 
annual  value  of  products 
of  the  area  described  at  a 
thousand  million  dollars, 
derived  from  cultivated 
farms  aggregating  sixty- 
seven  million  acres.  These 
broad  prairies,  at  one  time 
said  to  be  incapable  of  cul- 

A  Prairie  Dug-Out  .          .  .          o    o 

tivation,  in  1898  produced 

twelve  hundred  million  bushels  of  corn,  three  hundred  and  fifty  million  bushels 
of  wheat,  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  million  bushels  of  oats  and  thirty 
million  tons  of  hay,  in  value  aggregating  six  hundred  million  dollars.  Other 
products  raise  the  grand  total  of  $755,200,242.  There  were  nine  million 
horses  and  mules,  thirty-two  million  cattle,  fifty-one  million  hogs  and  sheep, 
the  value  of  the  annual  product  of  live  stock  being  twelve  hundred  million 
dollars.  The  annual  wool  product  was  estimated  at  seventy  million  pounds. 
In  considering  the  chief  factors  which  contributed  to  make  the  prairie 
States  the  granary  of  the  world,  it  is  necessary  to  mention  the  self-binding 
reaper  and  harvester  which  appeared  in  1876,  for  it  is  said  to  have  advanced 
the  frontier  line  of  civilization  many  miles  each  year.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  the  successful  introduction  of  the  reaper  into  the  grain  fields  of  this 
country  added  millions  of  dollars  to  the  value  of  our  annual  harvest  by 
enabling  us  to  secure  the  whole  product  and  to  enlarge  the  area  of  our  wheat 


Progress  of  the  West 


19 


fields  with  certainty  of  being  able  to  gather  the  crop.  The  introduction  of 
labor-saving  farm  machinery  of  every  description  had  tremendous  influence 
in  increasing  the  total  production  of  grain.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
scientific  experiments  made  by  the  Government,  as  illustrated  in  its  splendid 
exhibit  at  Omaha.  In  1862  Congress  granted  land  to  each  State,  proceeds 
of  sale  of  which  to  go  to  agricultural  and  mechanical  colleges.  These  institu- 
tions have  had  their  part  in  promoting  agriculture. 


An  Indian  Village 

Up  to  the  year  1890  the  value  of  farm  property  had  reached  fabulous 
proportions.  Government  statisticians  reported  the  aggregate  value  of  farm 
property  in  twenty  States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Great  Lakes  at 
$7,185,588,223.  The  figures  for  1900  show  an  increase  in  ten  years  of  over 
25  per  cent.  Perhaps  it  would  be  fair  to  add  20  per  cent  to  the  above  sum 
in  order  to  reach  an  estimate  of  the  total  value  of  farm  property  at  the  date 
of  the  Omaha  Exposition,  which  would  give  us  the  colossal  sum  of 
$8,622,705,867.  This  is  more  than  the  total  value  of  farm  property  in  all 
the  States  and  Territories  in  1860. 


20 


Trans-Mississippi  and  Internationl  Exposition 


Placer   Mining 


MINING 

A  large  share  of  the  rapid  progress  of  the  West  within  the  era  outlined 
at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  is  due  to  the  development  of  mineral  resources. 
As  was  the  case  in  California  in  '49,  the  discovery  of  rich  deposits  of  precious 
metals  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  States  attracted  thousands  of  prospectors  and 

miners,  who  began  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  the  min- 
ing industry,  which  has 
grown  to  enormous  pro- 
portions. The  Western 
States  produce  practically 
all  of  the  precious  metals 
found  in  the  United  States. 
In  1860  so  few  people  were 
living  in  these  mountain 
States  that  the  census  takers  did  not  count  them.  The  rush  of  prospectors 
into  Colorado  had  begun  a  year  or  two  before,  but  little  had  been  done  in 
founding  the  mining  industry  in  that  State,  which  is  the  largest  producer 
of  minerals  among  the  States  and  Territories.  Little  was  then  known  of  the 
valuable  mineral  deposits  of  Wyoming,  Montana,  Utah,  Idaho  and  South 
Dakota,  although  a  few  prospectors  had  by  that  time  located  claims  and  some 
sensational  discoveries  had  been  made.  Note  has  been  taken  of  the  first 
discovery  of  gold  in  Colorado  in  1858,  but  the  inrush  of  prospectors  was 
delayed  until  the  following  summer.  The  world-famed  placer  diggings  of 
Alder  Gulch,  Montana,  were  discovered  in  1859,  destined  to  produce,  all  told, 
gold  valued  at  sixty-five  million  dol- 
lars. Some  years  later  the  Mormon 
settlers  in  Utah  began  to  prospect 
for  gold  and  silver  with  great 
success,  attracting  thousands  of 
emigrants,  some  of  whom  joined 
prospectors  from  Montana  and  pene- 
trated the  mountains  of  Idaho,  where 
rich  mineral  deposits  were  found. 
Early  in  the  '/o's  gold  was  discovered 
in  the  Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole 
country  for  a  time.  These  several  discoveries  produced  an  immense  migration 
into  those  regions,  and  by  1870  they  contained  a  population  of  145,000. 
From  that  time  the  growth  of  the  mining  industry  in  the  West  has  been 
phenomenal.  The  aggregate  amount  of  wealth  produced  is  so  large  that  it 


Miner's  Cabin 


21 

almost  challenges  belief.  Progress  made  in  Colorado  is  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  in  1891  the  total  revenue  derived  from  the  mines  was  thirty-three 
and  a  half  million  dollars.  In  1899  the  State  produced  gold  and  silver 
valued  at  $55,284,327.  At  that  time  the  total  bullion  produced  was  over 
three  hundred  million  dollars.  Utah  produced  in  1877  gold,  silver,  copper 
and  lead  valued  at  $7,237,833;  in  1891  the  output  had  grown  to  $12,265,112, 
and  in  1898  the  total  production  of  those  materials  in  Utah  was  valued  at 
$9,347,826.  The  oldest  mining  camp  in  that  State  has  produced  fifty  million 
dollars  in  gold,  silver  and  lead.  The  value  of  gold  and  silver  produced  in 
Montana  in  1899  was  $25,571,090.  Up  to  1892  Butte  alone  had  produced, 
all  told,  gold,  silver,  copper  and  lead  valued  at  over  two  hundred  million 
dollars.  During  the  Exposition  year  Idaho  produced  gold  and  silver  valued 
at  $6,869,105;  South  Dakota  $6,657,751 ;  California  about  seventeen  million; 
Oregon  and  Washington  nearly  three  million ;  Arizona  nearly  five  million 
and  Nevada  over  three  million. 

Every  one  of  the  mining  States  produces  a  large  variety  of  valuable 
minerals,  one  State  having  208  different  kinds.  All  produce  coal  in  greater 
or  less  quantity.  One  State  has  the  greatest  onyx  mine  in  the  world;  another 
has  the  largest  deposits  of  marble;  another  embraces  a  region  of  country 
in  the  hills,  a  hundred  miles  square,  which  is  the  richest  in  the  world,  contain- 
ing the  largest  and  most  easily  worked  mass  of  low-grade  ore  yet  discovered ; 
another  State  has  a  mountain  of  iron  ore,  the  largest  single  deposit  in  the 
world. 

In  1899  the  total  product  of  gold  in  the  States  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River  was  valued  at  $71,053,400;  and  of  silver  $70,806,626.  Those  States 
produced  that  year  coal  weighing  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  million 
tons,  iron  ore  weighing  nearly  twenty-five  million  tons  and  over  fifty-seven 
million  barrels  of  petroleum.  The  value  of  the  coal  was  over  thirty  million 
dollars  and  the  value  of  copper  and  other  minerals  produced  that  year  was 
about  one  hundred  million  dollars. 

MANUFACTURES 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  vast  storehouse  of  materials  needed  by  the 
people  would  give  rise  to  a  great  manufacturing  industry  throughout  the 
West,  especially  in  those  States  having  an  abundant  supply  of  fuel.  The 
wonderful  development  of  natural  resources  ushered  in  a  remarkable  era  of 
manufacturing  west  of  the  Great  Lakes,  due  partially  to  the  discovery  of 
new  sources  of  metals,  coal,  petroleum,  and  to  the  vast  forests  north  and 
south,  which  produced  an  unlimited  amount  of  building  materials;  and  due 
in  some  measure  to  the  rapid  growth  of  transportation  facilities  by  rail  and 


22 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


by  water,  and  to  an  ambition  to  become 
independent  of  the  East  in  the  production  of 
many  articles  of  common  use.  Therefore, 
since  the  Civil  War,  the  center  of  manu- 
facturing has  steadily  moved  westward. 
For  twenty  years  prior  to  the  Omaha 
Exposition  there  had  been  great  industrial 
expansion  in  the  West,  and  the  increase  of 
population  was  so  rapid  that  consumption 
kept  pace  with  the  annual  product,  while  the 
number  of  persons  employed  in  manufactur- 
ing, mechanical  and  mining  industries  had 
increased  materially.  The  period  cited  was 
most  prolific  of  inventions,  which  gave 
an  unprecedented  impetus  to  the  manu- 
factures. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  rapid  growth  of 
industries  of  the  twenty  years  ending  with 
1900,  the  value  of  the  annual  product  of  a 
number  of  representative  Western  cities  is. 


A   Primitive   American 


given  as  follows : 


1880. 


Denver    $     9,367,749 

Des  Moines 4,220,709 

Kansas  City 6,382,681 

Minneapolis   29,973,476 

Omaha    4,280,866 

"St.  Louis U4,333>375 

St.  Paul 10,268,363 

Salt  Lake  City 1,610,133 

San  Francisco 77.801.949 


1900. 

$  41,368,698 
10,488,189 

36,527,39i 
110,943.043 

43.168.876 
233.629,733 

38.541,030 

6.109,409 

133,069.416 


In  twenty  States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Great  Lakes  the  aggregate 
value  of  manufactured  products  had  reached  fabulous  proportions  in  1900, 
the  increase  in  ten  years  being  about  75  per  cent.  No  other  part  of 
the  country  enjoyed  so  large  a  percentage  of  increase.  The  figures  of  the 
United  States  census  afford  a  basis  for  a  fair  estimate  of  the  total  value  of 
manufactured  products  in  the  region  outlined  for  the  year  1898,  the  State  of 
Illinois  leading  all  the  others.  The  territory  embraced  extends  from  the 
Gulf  to  the  Lakes  and  westward  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  This  vast  domain 
produced,  during  the  exposition  year  from  native  raw  materials,  manufactured 
articles  aggregating  in  value  the  sum  of  $2,535,159,961. 


Progress  of  the  West 


These  figures  are  indicative  of  the  limitless  resources  of  the  country  and 
the  great  possibilities  of  the  future.  To  exploit  these  facts  and  to  disseminate 
them  throughout  the  world,  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  was  projected. 
They  tell  a  marvelous  story  of  progress  and  development  never  before  attained 
in  this  or  any  other  country. 

AGGREGATE  WEALTH 

Some  years  ago  a  Nebraska  statesman  said :  "We  are  riding  upon  the 
head  wave  of  American  enterprise,  but  our  descendants,  living  here  a  century 
hence,  will  be  in  the  center  of  American  commerce — the  mid-ocean  of  our 
national  greatness  and  prosperity."  There  is  nothing  more  interesting  in 
the  world  of  modern  effort  than  the  solid  achievements  of  the  men  who  are 
building  up  the  West  and  who  are  making  of  it  a  great  empire.  It  was 
Americans  and  sons  of  Americans  who  first  settled  up  the  West  and  put 
their  stamp  upon  its  institutions.  Invariably  the  foreigner  came  in  later  and 
together  they  took  up  the  work  of  producing  wealth.  The  results  of  their 
labors  can  not  be  meas,- 
ured  in  dollars  and 
cents  alone,  but  in  that 
branch  of  endeavor 
they  have  made  won- 
derful progress.  Soon 
after  the  year  of  the 
Omaha  Exposition  was 
gathered  the  facts  and 
figures  for  the  federal 
census  of  1900,  and  the 
best  statistics  obtain- 
able are  thus  given : 
In  twenty-two  States 
and  Territories  of  the 
West  the  aggregate 
value  of  real  property 
was  $17,176,560,181, 
while  the  value  of  all 
property  reported  had 
reached  the  colossal  sum 
of  $29,082,817,660. 
This  exceeds  the  total 
estimated  wealth  of  the 


A  Pawnee  Brave 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


CHIEF    RED    CLOUD 


Progress  of  the  West  25 

whole  country  as  reported  in  the  census  of  1870.  It  was  produced  and 
accumulated  by  a  population  of  21,404,103. 

In  passing,  it  may  be  well  to  make  brief  reference  to  the  preponderance 
of  values  of  agricultural  products  over  and  above  the  aggregate  value  of  the 
products  of  the  mines.  While  these  are  the  prime  sources  of  wealth  and  the 
West  owes  its  greatness  to  both,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  part 
played  by  the  prairie  States  in  the  production  of  wealth  is  much  larger  than 
that  of  the  mining  States  wherein  agriculture  was  not  yet  fully  developed. 
Covering  the  territory  for  which  these  estimates  are  made,  the  aggregate 
value  of  the  products  of  the  farm  during  the  year  of  the  Exposition  was 
$755,200,242;  while  the  mines  produced  $271,859,026. 

From  these  evidences  of  material  progress  the  reader  may  derive  an 
insight  into  the  wealth-producing  power  of  the  country  which  projected  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Exposition.  While  the  province  of  an  exposition  is  to 
illustrate  the  resources  of  the  region  it  represents,  it  must  show  also  the 
capabilities  of  the  people  in  the  arts  and  industries,  and  illustrate  in  many 
ways  the  state  of  civilization  attained  by  the  people  who  developed  the  country. 
It  must  show  what  had  been  done  in  the  field  of  science,  invention,  education, 
religion,  culture,  society,  fine  arts,  music,  etc.  Perhaps  the  thousands  of 
visitors  who  viewed  the  educational  exhibits  did  not  realize  the  fact  that  the 
Exposition  represented  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  universities  and  colleges, 
sixty-two  thousand  school  houses  and  nearly  six  million  school  children. 
There  was  no  exhibit  on  the  grounds  which  made  evident  the  fact  of  the 
existence  of  forty-five  thousand  religious  organizations  with  a  membership 
of  three  and  a  half  million  worshipers,  who  had  erected  forty-four  thousand 
church  edifices  in  the  Western  States,  yet  these  figures  give  the  true  measure 
of  the  progress  of  religion  and  education  since  the  advent  of  the  pioneer 
missionary,  whose  virtues  are  extolled  in  the  annals  of  the  founding  of 
civilization  west  of  the  Great  Lakes.  Interesting  as  were  the  exhibits  of  the 
work  of  the  pupils  of  the  public  schools  as  indicating  the  character  of  instruc- 
tion, the  showing  made  of  the  work  done  in  the  colleges  in  teaching  horti- 
culture and  agriculture  was  one  of  highest  importance,  as  it  illustrated  the 
value  of  scientific  instruction  as  applied  to  the  practical  work  of  agriculture, 
fruit-growing  and  forestry.  These  items  are  given  in  order  to  throw  a  new 
light  upon  the  Western  farmer,  who  had  for  years  devoted  his  spare  time  to 
the  study  of  scientific  methods  of  tilling  the  soil.  The  work  accomplished 
by  Western  agricultural  experiment  stations  was  set  forth  in  the  exhibits 
to  great  advantage,  as  was  that  of  a  vast  number  of  agricultural  societies 
and  farmers'  institutes,  which  for  twenty  years  had  grown  rapidly  in  number 
and  influence. 


26  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

One  of  the  most  important  lessons  of  the  Exposition  was  that  which 
taught  the  masses  the  great  value  of  the  application  of  art  to  the  products 
of  industry.  A  great  deal  had  been  written  about  industrial  art,  but  there 
was  little  to  be  seen  in  the  way  of  its  product.  In  the  Exposition  enough 
was  shown  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  cultivating  artistic  knowledge 
in  industrial  callings.  The  exhibits  illustrated  the  fact  that  art  played  an 
important  part  in  promoting  industrial  development,  and  gave  proofs  that 
Western  people  were  keenly  alive  to  the  value  of  instruction  in  the  fine  arts, 
and  appreciated  the  influence  of  art  as  applied  to  the  products  of  industry 
generally. 

The  spirit  of  the  West  has  ever  been  manifest  in  all  the  great  under- 
takings of  the  people.     The  constant  effort  seemed  to  be  to  build  firm  founda- 
tions   for    future   greatness,    and   while    the   chief    concern   of   all    was    the 
development  of  natural  resources  in  order  that  wealth  and  strength  might  be 
gained,  yet  there  has  ever  been  present  in  the  minds  of  men  who  laid  the 
beginnings  of  communities  and  fostered  the  growth  of  States,  an  expressed 
desire  to  encourage  every  agency  for  the  cultivation  of  good  morals  and  the 
refinement  of  society.     The  history  of  frontier  mining  camps  confirms  this 
salient  fact,  for  the  better  element  of  men  invariably  gained  the  ascendency 
in  every   settlement,   however  remote,   with   the   result   that  the   rough   and 
dissolute  characters   who   dominated   the  camps   in  early   days   were  either 
subdued  by  hemp  or  forced  to  move  on.     The  annals  of  Virginia  City  and 
Leadville  need  only  to  be  cited  to  illustrate  the  certain  tendency  of  Americans 
to  compel  observance  of  the  laws  of  well-ordered  society,  and  to  pave  the 
way  for  the  civilizing  influences  of  the  East,  under  which  they  were  reared. 
As  a  consequence  of  the  national  spirit  of  the  people,  the  Wrest  founded  a 
great  system  of  education  through  laws  which  set  apart  a  portion  of  the 
public  lands  for  purposes  of  endowment  of  universities,  high  and  common 
schools,    mechanical   and   agricultural    colleges.     These   means   of   affording 
classical,  technical  and  primary  instruction  were  provided  for,  as  a  rule,  in 
one   form   or  another,   at   the  earliest   practicable   day   in   the   life   of   new 
communities.      Some  of  the  mountain  States  founded  schools  of  mining  with  a 
degree  of  success  no  less  marked  than  that  of  the  agricultural  colleges  of 
the  prairie  States.     It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
West  kept  pace  in  point  of  development  with  agencies  employed  in  the  pursuit 
of  wealth,  and  while  the  Exposition  may  not  have  illustrated  in  full  degree 
the  advancement  of  society  in  moral  and  spiritual  attainments,  it  did  display 
many  exhibits  which  made  evident  the  fact  that  the  people  of  the  West  had 
a  due  appreciation  of  the  value  of  intellectual  development;  of  art  in  various 
forms  of  expression;  of  the  growth  and  encouragement  of  religion;  of  every 


Progress  of  the  West  27 

means  of  social  culture  and  refinement;  of  fostering  benevolent  and  charitable 
institutions,  and  the  Exposition  sought  to  make  these  facts  apparent,  not  only 
by  the  display  of  exhibits,  but  by  means  of  numerous  congresses  and  conven- 
tions, each  of  which  contributed  its  share  of  testimony  to  prove  the  deep 
interest  felt  by  the  people  in  all  efforts  made  to  improve  moral  and  educational 
standards. 


Jftl 


t — IF— 'HE  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 
was  located  on  a  plateau  of  ground  with  an  area 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  acres,  irregular 
in  shape,  and  well  within  the  city  limits  of  Omaha,  twelve 
minutes  from  the  business  center  of  the  city  by  either  of  three 
lines  of  electric  trains.  It  was  made  up  of  three  tracts,  known 
as  the  Kountze  tract,  a  parallelogram,  two  thousand  five  hundred 
and  ninety  feet  in  length,  six  hundred  and  eighty  feet  in  width, 
area  forty-three  acres,  its  longer  axis  being  east  and  west, 
bounded  on  the  east  by  Sherman  Avenue  with  its  electric  car 
line,  on  the  north  by  Pratt  Street,  on  the  west  by  T\venty-fourth 
Street  with  its  electric  car  line,  and  on  the  south  by  Pinckney 
Street.  On  this  tract  was  located  the  Grand  Court,  embracing  the 
main  exhibition  buildings.  Adjoining  this  tract  on  the  east  was 
the  so-called  Bluff  tract,  with  an  area  of  thirty-eight  acres,  three 
thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-seven  feet  in  length,  nine  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  width  near  its  southerly  extremity,  tapering  to  a  point  at  its  northerly 
extremity,  its  longer  axis  being  at  right  angles  to  the  Kountze  tract,  bounded 
on  the  east  by  the  main  line  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Company;  on 
the  west  by  Sherman  Avenue,  with  its  electric  car  line,  and  on  the  south  by 
Locust  Street,  with  its  electric  car  line  to  East  Omaha.  On  this  tract  were 
located  the  Horticulture  building,  the  State  buildings  and  the  East  Midway. 
Adjoining  this  tract  near  its  northerly  extremity  and  extending  north  and 
west  was  the  so-called  Xorth  tract,  irregular  in  shape,  with  an  area  of  eighty- 
seven  acres,  its  longest  axis  both  north  and  south  and  east  and  west  being 
about  two  thousand  feet  in  length — bounded  on  the  east  by  Sherman  and 
Commercial  Avenues,  with  their  electric  car  lines ;  on  the  north  by  Ames 
Avenue,  with  its  electric  car  line,  and  on  the  west  by  Twenty-fourth  Street, 


30 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


fi 

i 
I 


OAK    CHATHAM  TRACT 
IRRIGATION     LIVE.  3TOCK  ETC. 


TRANS  MISSISSIPPI 

AND 

JNTERNATONAL  EXPOSITION 

GROUNDS 


WALKER  5.  KIMBALL. 
ARCHITECTS   IN  CHIE.F 


Bird's-Eye  Fieiv  of  Completed  Exposition  31 

with  its  electric  car  line.  On  this  tract  were  located  the  Live  Stock  Exhibit, 
the  West  Midway  and  various  concessions.  The  contiguity  of  these  three 
tracts  being  broken,  various  smaller  tracts  of  a  total  area  of  sixteen  acres  were 
acquired  to  provide  avenues  of  communication  between  them. 

This  aggregation  of  grounds  included  an  extreme  length  north  and  south 
of  a  trifle  over  a  mile,  and  an  extreme  width  east  and  west  of  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile,  yet  the  grouping  of  the  various  classes  of  buildings  and 
exhibits,  and  the  location  of  the  various  classes  of  entertainment  with  the 
Grand  Court  and  the  Government  building  as  the  radiating  center  of  attrac- 
tion, were  such  that  the  visitor  was  conscious  of  no  weariness  in  seeking 
to  avail  himself  of  every  opportunity  to  surfeit  himself  with  knowledge  and 
amusement. 

As  will  appear  elsewhere  in  this  history,  and  in  a  more  appropriate 
setting,  the  Trans-Mississippi  territory  of  the  United  States,  while  at  the 
zenith  of  its  marvelous  development  of  empire,  had  suffered  a  grievous  set- 
back during  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  inception  of  this  great 
Exposition  by  reason  of  unprecedented  drouth  and  failure  of  crops.  The 
State  of  Nebraska,  which  had  stood  in  the  foremost  rank  with  the  States  in 
development,  also  appeared  to  be  the  central  zone  of  adversity.  Its  metropolis, 
Omaha,  to  whose  destiny  fell  the  creation  and  carrying  out  of  the  exhibition 
of  the  marvelous  development  of  the  first  half-century  of  the  existence  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  territory,  seemed  to  be  the  center  of  adversity  of  her  State. 
The  upwards  of  two  millions  of  persons  passing  through  the  gates  of  the 
Exposition  and  viewing  from  every  standpoint  the  grandeur  of  the  creation 
as  an  entirety,  could  have  had  no  conception  of  the  actual  conditions  prevailing 
when  the  genius  of  its  management  first  took  hold  of  the  enterprise.  The 
historian  must  be  true  to  his  trust.  It  was  then  regarded  as  a  melancholy 
fact  that  the  blocks  of  beautiful  city  lots  which  became  the  site  of  this  great 
Exposition  had  been,  during  the  years  of  depression,  relegated  to  the  culture 
of  corn,  that  their  owners  might  tide  themselves  over  the  financial  shoals  to 
the  new  era  of  prosperity  and  advancement  which  the  true  Westerner  could 
always  see  behind  the  darkest  clouds.  And  from  these  fields  of  corn  the 
transformation  into  the  beauteous  scenes  of  the  Exposition  took  place. 

To  prepare  the  reader  for  a  proper  conception  of  the  various  elements 
which  contributed  to  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  entire  scene,  it  may  be 
stated  here  that  a  radical  departure  was.  made  from  the  almost  universal 
practice  in  the  creation  of  previous  expositions  in  many  details.  The  con- 
centration of  the  groupings  of  the  various  features  of  exhibits  and  amusements 
has  just  been  referred  to.  An  element  of  uniformity  in  height  of  buildings 
and  the  rectangular  form  of  the  main  buildings,  without  detracting  from  the 
widest  field  for  display  of  genius  in  details  of  fagade  and  ornamentation, 


Bird's-Eye  Viciv  of  Completed  Exposition  33 

contributed  not  a  little  to  the  glory  of  the  scene  as  an  entirety.  In  the  field 
of  electric  illumination  the  radical  departure  from  the  use  of  the  arc  light 
to  that  of  the  incandescent  lamp  added  greatly  to  the  success  of  the  creation. 
Other  equally  radical  departures  from  former  practice  were  made  with  great 
risk  and  much  concern,  but  out  of  it  came  cordial  congratulation,  and  the 
Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  has  become  a  recognized 
model  for  emulation.  Be  it  remembered  that  local  Omaha  genius  was  very 
largely  the  source  of  the  originality  which  prevailed  in  every  department  of 
the  Exposition. 

The  main  entrance  to  the  Exposition  grounds  was  through  the  Arch  of 
States,  located  at  the  intersection  of  Twentieth  Street  with  the  north  line  of 
Pinckney  Street,  being  midway  of  the  south  line  of  the  Kountze  tract.  The 
original  conception  of  this  Arch  of  States  was  to  construct  it  of  materials 
contributed  by  each  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States,  but  from  various  causes 
the  carrying  out  of  this  plan  failed,  though  it  was  one  of  the  most  noticeable 
in  the  group  of  structures.  It  was  fifty  feet  in  width,  twenty-five  feet  in 
depth  and  sixty  feet  in  height  to  the  top  of  the  parapet.  In  form  it  was 
that  of  a  triumphal  arch,  the  opening  being  twenty  feet  in  width  and  thirty-five 
feet  in  height  to  the  keystone.  It  was  decorated  with  a  frieze  composed  of 
the  coats-of-arms  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States,  the  whole  being  surmounted 
by  sculptured  figures  bearing  the  shield  of  the  United  States.  The  gay  effect 
of  streamers  flying  from  the  top  of  this  arch  formed  a  brilliant  object,  which 
attracted  attention  from  points  of  view  throughout  a  wide  area. 

Entering  the  grounds  through  this  arch,  the  visitor  found  himself  trans- 
ported to  a  fairyland  of  splendor  far  beyond  any  conception  of  his  childhood 
days.  While  modern  ingenuity  had  produced  many  spots  appropriately  termed 
fairylands,  Venice  being  the  crowning  ideal  of  most  travelers  in  home  and 
foreign  lands,  yet  there  were  those  who  had  looked  upon  them  all  who 
expressed  the  opinion  that  this  creation  surpassed  in  beauty  of  setting  and 
harmony  of  outline  anything  hitherto  achieved.  From  a  vantage  point  of 
view  above  the  south  viaduct  over  Sherman  Avenue,  looking  west,  immedi- 
ately in  the  foreground  one  saw  the  Grand  Court,  in  the  center  of  which, 
longitudinally,  was  set  the  canal  or  lagoon.  This  was  the  arena  which  the 
architects  chose  for  a  display  of  the  highest  artistic  effects.  The  canal  was 
two  thousand  feet  in  length,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  width  at  its  east 
end  and  through  the  major  portion  of  its  length,  broadening  at  its  west  end 
into  a  trefoil  or  three-lobed  lake  of  four  hundred  feet  across.  The  east  end  was 
known  as  the  Harbor,  whence  passengers  embarked  in  Venetian  gondolas 
of  picturesque  style  of  construction,  propelled  by  typical  gondoliers,  who 
perfected  the  transposition  into  fairyland  by  adding  the  music  of  their  native 
songs  to  the  rhythm  of  their  swaying  bodies  in  the  manipulation  of  the 


Bird's-Eyc  View  of  Completed  Exposition 


35 


propelling  oars.  The  descent  from  the  level  of  the  Grand  Court  to  that  of 
the  havens  of  the  gondolas  was  by  means  of  steps  of  masonry.  The  canal 
was  spanned  by  an  artistic  bridge  across  its  longitudinal  center,  forming  an 
avenue  of  communication  between  the  north  and  south  sides  of  the  Grand 
Court,  with  arches  for  the  passage  of  the  gondolas  navigating  the  water 
beneath.  Swans  and  other  water  fowls  added  to  the  picturesque  beauty  of 
this  lagoon. 

The  west  end  of  the  lagoon  was  known  as  the  "Mirror."  In  the  center 
of  the  "Mirror"  was  an  electric  fountain  designated  "Nautilus."  An  unknown 
writer  has  described  it  as  "Neptune  sitting  on  high,  viewing  his  realm  with 
regal  dignity.  Before  him  riot  his  captive  waters  in  holiday  attire,  assisted 
by  the  rainbow  subjects  of  a 
rival  sovereign.  Innumerable 
sprays  of  vari-colored  crystal 
fluid  dart  forth  in  rapid  sequence, 
now  bursting  into  flaming  red, 
then  quieting  to  subdued  mother- 
of-pearl,  and  again  offering  a 
bouquet  of  myriad  shades  to  the 
water-god." 

Cutting  off  the  horizon  of 
vision  to  the  west,  the  stately 
Government  building  stood,  fac- 
ing the  "Mirror."  It,  like  any 
other  of  the  main  buildings  of 
the  Exposition,  would,  if  set  down  by  itself  in  almost  any  spot  in  the  world, 
attract  attention  for  its  grandeur,  stateliness  and  architectural  beauty.  It 
was  constructed  of  the  Ionic  order  of  architecture,  arranged  in  three  sections, 
the  center  or  main  section  having  a  frontage  of  tw7o  hundred  and  eight  feet, 
flanked  on  either  side  by  a  side  section  with  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-eight  feet,  constituting  an  entire  frontage  of  five  hundred  and  four  feet. 
The  main  section  was  fifty-eight  feet  in  height  to  top  of  balustrade  over 
cornice  and  fifty  feet  in  depth.  The  side  sections  were  one  hundred  feet 
deep  and  forty-four  feet  in  height  to  top  of  balustrade.  The  main  entrance 
was  flanked  on  either  side  by  pavilions  capped  by  richly  decorated  domes. 
The  main  building  was  surmounted  by  a  colossal  dome  capped  by  an  heroic 
figure  representing  "Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,"  the  torch  of  the  figure 
being  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  feet  above  the  ground.  It  was  con- 
fessedly the  finest  exposition  building  the  United  States  Government  had  ever 
constructed. 


Government  Building 


Bird's-Eyc  Vic-w  of  Completed  Exposition 


37 


One  of  the  happy  features  of  the  architecture  of  the  Exposition  now 
presents  itself,  as  our  line  of  vision  radiates  eastward  from  the  Government 
building  disclosing  a  system  of  vine-shaded  columns  treated  in  the  Pompeian 
manner  connecting  all  the  main  buildings  surrounding  the  Court  of  Honor, 
providing  visitors  with  a  restful  protection  from  the  heat  of  the  summer  sun 
as  well  as  from  the  discomfort  of  rainy  weather.  These  colonnades  lead  us 
from  the  Government  building  in  a  graceful  curve  parallel  to  the  lobes  of 


Fountain  of  Neptune  in  Basin 

the  "Mirror"  on  either  side  to  the  Palace  of  Agriculture  on  the  north  side 
and  to  the  Palace  of  Fine  Arts  on  the  south  side  of  the  Court. 

The  Palace  of  Agriculture  was  four  hundred  feet  in  length,  one  hundred 
and  forty-feet  in  width,  and  forty-eight  feet  in  height.  It  was  of  the  Renais- 
sance or  classic  style  of  architecture,  the  decorations  and  ornaments,  modeled 
from  the  agricultural  products  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  territory,  being 
festoons  of  corn  and  other  cereals,  and  even  the  common  market-garden 
products  being  given  proper  place  in  the  decoration. 

Directly  opposite  the  Palace  of  Agriculture  and  also  facing  the  lagoon 
stood  the  Palace  of  Fine  Arts,  in  shape  a  parallelogram,  two  hundred  and 


Bird's-Eye  Vi&iv  of  Completed  Exposition  39 

forty  feet  in  length,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  width,  and  thirty- 
nine  feet  in  height.  Its  architecture  was  unique  in  detail  but  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  general  lines  of  all  the  main  buildings.  It  took  the  form 
of  two  separate,  symmetrical,  domed  buildings,  connected  by  a  peristylium 
or  open  court  surrounded  by  colonnades.  The  sculptor  again  crowned  the 
pediments  and  flanking  buttresses  with  groups  and  figures  representing  the 
various  arts,  and  holding  out  for  those  who  won  them  the  emblems  of  success. 

Next  adjoining  the  Palace  of  Fine  Arts  on  the  east  was  the  Arch  of 
States,  already  described.  Directly  opposite  the  Arch  of  States  and  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Court  of  Honor  was  the  Administration  Arch,  connected 
with  the  Palace  of  Agriculture  on  the  west  by  a  continuance  of  the  Pompeian 
Colonnade,  which  had  its  beginning  at  the  Government  building  on  either 
side.  The  Administration  Arch  was  fifty  feet  square  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  height.  It  formed  a  central  figure  in  the  group  of  buildings 
facing  the  canal  by  reason  of  its  height.  Like  all  other  buildings  grouped 
around  the  Grand  Court,  it  was  designed  in  "free  classic,"  but  the  French 
Renaissance  stood  out  more  prominently  in  this  building  than  any  other.  An 
open  space  between  the  roof  and  the  main  cornice  formed  a  point  of  observa- 
tion above  the  roofs  of  the  other  buildings. 

Adjoining  the  Administration  Arch  on  the  east  and  connected  with  it 
by  a  continuance  of  the  Pompeian  colonnade  in  graceful  and  restful  curves 
was  the  Palace  of  Manufactures.  It  was  three  hundred  feet  in  length,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  width  and  forty  feet  in  height.  The  Greek 
Ionic  style  of  architecture  characterized  its  lines.  The  order  of  heroic  propor- 
tions was  carried  out  with  great  artistic  care  in  every  detail.  The  principal 
feature  of  the  canal  fagade  was  a  circular  dome  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
circumference,  rising  to  a  height  of  seventy-five  feet,  which  was  supported  on  a 
circular  row  of  fluted  Ionic  columns,  the  space  enclosed  by  them  being  open, 
forming  a  grand,  open,  domed  vestibule  for  an  approach  to  the  building. 
The  inner  dome  was  richly  designed  with  ribs  and  panels,  and  was  highly 
decorated,  while  the  outer  was  formed  by  a  series  of  steps  rising  in  the  form 
of  a  cone  to  the  apex,  which  was  crowned  by  a  richly  decorated  base  for  a 
flagstaff.  The  outer  row  of  dome  columns  was  detached  and  the  entablature 
was  broken  around  them  at  the  base  of  the  dome,  while  over  each  column  was 
a  statue  and  pedestal  having  as  a  background  the  stylobate  of  the  dome. 
This  treatment  was  very  monumental  in  effect,  and  while  in  good  taste  and 
harmonious  with  the  architectural  style,  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  like  so  much 
of  the  genius  displayed  in  the  Exposition,  original  and  interesting.  Over 
the  doorway  leading  from  the  vestibule  into  the  building  were  three  large 
panels  between  the  pilasters  to  receive  paintings  emblematical  of  the  character 
of  the  exhibits  displayed  therein.  Flanking  the  central  dome  were  beautiful 


Bird's-Eye  View  of  Completed  Exposition  41 

Ionic  colonnades  which  formed  covered  ways  along  the  entire  faqade,  termi- 
nating at  the  corner  towers.  Over  these  colonnades  were  balconies,  capable 
of  receiving  large  numbers  of  people,  and  opening  from  the  interior  galleries 
of  the  building,  affording  a  fine  point  from  which  to  obtain  an  elevated  view 
of  the  canal  and  the  beauties  of  the  Grand  Court. 

Directly  opposite  the  Palace  of  Manufactures  and  facing  the  south  side 
of  the  Grand  Court  was  the  Palace  of  Liberal  Arts.  This  building  was 
two  hundred  and  eighty  feet  in  length,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in 
width  and  thirty-six  feet  four  inches  in  height.  Its  design  was  of  the  French 
Renaissance  school  of  architecture,  its  harmony  and  proportion  being  regulated 
by  the  other  main  exhibit  buildings  surrounding  the  Grand  Court.  Above 
the  pediments  at  each  corner  of  the  building  were  octagonal  bases  on  which 
stood  groups  of  statuary,  each  group  composed  of  four  heroic  figures,  the 


*T"<*"f' '  "~rlriTNMhu^!_          tift       *if-^. 

i'r  Mill*  i   luinTFiMnniiiPllllf] 


West  End  Colonnades 


main  one  representing  the  Liberal  Arts  supported  by  two  kneeling  figures 
suggesting  industrial  art,  while  in  front  of  all  was  a  smaller  figure  supporting 
a  shield  on  which  the  attributes  of  pottery  and  wrought  iron  were  inscribed. 
The  frieze  all  around  the  building  was  ornate,  supported  by  colonnades  of 
Ionic  type  and  contained  the  names  of  patrons  of  the  Liberal  Arts. 

Adjacent  to  the  Palace  of  Manufactures  on  the  east  and  connected  with 
it  by  a  continuation  of  the  Pompeian  colonnade  was  the  Palace  of  Mines  and 
Mining.  It  was  of  the  Greek  Ionic  style  of  architecture,  four  hundred  feet 
in  length,  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  width  and  forty-eight  feet  six  inches 
in  height.  The  principal  feature  of  the  lagoon  fagade  w-as  a  circular  dome 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  circumference,  rising  to  a  height  of  seventy-five 
feet.  The  fagacle  was  accentuated  at  the  center  and  on  the  ends  with  pavilions 
sixty-four  and  forty  feet  respectively,  thereby  obtaining  sufficient  variety  of 
mass.  The  solidity  of  these  pavilions  and  their  strong  perpendicular  lines 
and  shadows  gave  a  strong  contrast  of  light  and  shade.  The  center  entrance 
was  twenty-four  feet  wide  and  thirty-four  feet  high,  very  rich  in  decoration. 


Bird's-Eye  Vicav  of  Completed  Exposition  43 

flanked  on  either  side  by  coupled  columns  and  their  accompanying  pilasters, 
standing  six  feet  from  the  walls.  The  main  cornice  broke  around  a  projection 
of  columns  supporting  pedestals  for  groups  of  statuary  twelve  feet  high. 
The  center  of  the  pavilion  was  crowned  by  a  colossal  group  of  statuary. 
Single  statues  were  also  placed  between  columns  resting  on  stylobate,  which 
was  projected  out  to  receive  them.  The  spandrels  above  the  arch  were 
decorated  with  bas-reliefs.  The  end  pavilions  with  their  entrances  were 
crowned  with  shallow  domes. 

Directly  across  the  Grand  Court  and  facing  the  north  side  of  the  canal 
was  the  Palace  of  Machinery  and  Electricity,  connected  with  the  Palace  of 
Manufactures  by  a  section  of  the  Pompeian  colonnade.  This  palace  was 
three  hundred  feet  in  length,  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  width  and  thirty- 
one  feet  eight  inches  in  height.  The  design  was  governed  by  the  general 
conditions  requiring  harmony  with  the  other  buildings.  The  architecture 
wras  modern  Renaissance.  There  were  triple  entrances  on  the  main  floor  level 
in  the  center  of  the  main  front,  and  similar  groups  in  the  centers  of  the  east 
and  west  fronts,  with  four  emergency  exits  in  the  north  wall.  In  front  of 
the  building,  flanking  both  sides  of  the  main  entrance,  was  an  open  portico 
sixteen  feet  \vide  along  the  front  elevation  of  the  building.  The  center 
entrance  feature  projected  beyond  the  portico,  thus  forming  the  grand  entrance 
vestibule. 

Adjoining  the  Palace  of  Machinery  and  Electricity  on  the  east,  and 
situated  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Kountze  tract,  was  the  Boys'  and 
Girls'  building,  so  called  by  reason  of  the  cost  of  its  construction  having  been 
paid  from  funds  contributed  by  the  school  children  of  Trans-Mississippi 
territory.  It  was  not  one  of  the  main  exhibit  buildings,  but  was  given  a 
place  in  the  Grand  Court  as  a  worthy  tribute  to  the  sacrificing  and  enthusiastic 
loyalty  of  the  children,  on  whose  shoulders  would  rest  in  their  generation  the 
great  responsibility  of  carrying  on  the  development  of  science,  industry  and 
art,  which  this  Exposition  was  to  exhibit,  as  the  result  of  the  development 
of  the  two  generations  who  had  brought  out  of  the  "Great  American  Desert" 
what  we  were  now  to  behold.  The  Boys'  and  Girls'  building  was  of  most 
pleasing  design,  the  ground  plan  being  in  the  form  of  a  letter  T,  the  stem 
of  the  letter  forming  the  rear  portion  of  the  building.  The  main  portion 
of  the  building  was  one  hundred  feet  in  length  and  fifty  feet  in  width,  the 
stem  running  fifty  feet  to  the  rear. 

In  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Kountze  tract  and  adjoining  the  Palace 
of  Mines  and  Mining  on  the  east  was  the  Auditorium  or  Music  Hall.  It 
was  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  in 
width  and  thirty-seven  feet  in  height.  Architecturally,  it  was  in  keeping  with 
the  general  style  of  the  buildings  surrounding  the  Grand  Court,  but  no  attempt 


Bird's-Eye  Vie^v  of  Completed  Exposition  45 

at  elaborate  display  of  art  or  decoration  was  made,  its  purpose  being  to  furnish 
accommodation  for  concerts,  congresses  of  various  kinds,  and  other  public 
meetings.  Its  seating  capacity  was  eleven  hundred. 

We  have  now,  in  our  view  from  the  vantage  point  above  the  south  viaduct 
over  Sherman  Avenue,  taken  immediately  upon  entering  the  Exposition 
grounds,  covered  so  much  of  the  beautiful  scene  as  came  within  the  view  to 
the  west,  which  could  only  include  the  Grand  Court.  Let  us  change  our 
view  and  look  to  the  east.  We  have'  thus  far  feasted  our  vision  upon  a  scene 
incomparable  in  beauty  and  almost  beyond  adequate  description,  but  as  we 
turn  and  bring  within  the  horizon  of  our  vision  the  scene  toward  the  east, 
though  we  lose  sight  of  the  splendor  of  the  Grand  Court,  we  gaze  upon 
another  rare  scene  entirely  different  in  every  detail  but  hardly  less  difficult 
of  description.  We  now  look  upon  the  so-called  Bluff  tract  as  the  fore- 
ground, and  beyond  the  picturesque  valley  of  the  mighty  Missouri  River, 
reaching  to  the  horizon  to  the  north  and  to  the  south,  and  beyond  the  river 
the  bluffs  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  where  the  councils  with  the  tribes  of  Indians 
who  possessed  the  territory  fifty  years  ago  were  held.  Our  view  at  the  present 
time,  however,  must  be  confined  to  the  transformation  wrought  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  Bluff  tract. 

Elsewhere  in  this  history  it  will  be*recorded  that  the  transformation  of 
the  Bluff  tract  from  its  original  landscape  of  corn  stubble  to  the  grand  and 
beauteous  scene  which  we  now  behold,  began  in  November,  1897,  less  than 
seven  months  ago,  for  we  are  now  gazing  upon  the  scene  of  the  opening  day 
of  the  Exposition,  June  i,  1898.  While  there  was  no  special  publicity  given 
to  the  thought  at  the  time,  there  was  no  feature  of  the  Exposition  speaking 
so  eloquently  for  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  energy  and  genius  of  its  people 
and  the  possibilities  of  the  future  of  the  TransnMississippi  empire,  as  did  the 
transformaton  of  this  Bluff  tract  of  Missouri  River  silt  from  a  field  of  corn 
stubble  to  this  perspective  of  grand  avenues,  shaded  by  stately  trees  and 
surrounded  by  beautiful  shrubs  and  flowers,  in  such  a  brief  period  of  time.  The 
skeptical  visitor  from  the  East  who,  perhaps,  had  spent  a  lifetime  in  effort 
to  accomplish  something  approaching  this  in  beauty  and  effect  around  his 
home  mansion  on  the  edge  of  his  estate,  in  the  stony  soil  of  his  native  State, 
could  hardly  realize  what  had  been  done  here,  and  many  of  his  kind  do 
not  believe  it  to  be  the  truth  even  to  this  day.  The  rugged  bluff  and  monot- 
onous vista  of  level  soil  had  disappeared  under  the  artistic  touches  of  the 
landscape  gardener,  and  had  been  succeeded  by  long,  cool  stretches  of  turf, 
miles  of  neatly  graveled  walks  and  drives  and  a  wilderness  of  trees  and  shrubs 
and  flowers  suggestive  of  tropical  luxury.  The  most  of  this,  in  fact,  had  been 
accomplished  since  the  last  snow  had  melted  and  trickled  down  the  bluff  to 
swell  the  turbid  current  of  the  river  below,  for  little  could  be  done  during  the 


46 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


months  of  the  winter.  The  trees  were  as  luxuriant  and  the  turfs  and  flowers 
as  inviting  as  though  years  had  been  spent  in  their  cultivation,  and  the  visitor 
wondered  whether  most  to  admire  the  setting  or  the  gem.  It  required  three 
thousand  trees  and  nine  thousand  shrubs  to  carry  out  this  feature,  and  these 
were  chiefly  varieties  native  to  Nebraska.  Twelve  hundred  shade  trees  were 
planted  along  the  walks  and  drives.  The  stretches  of  green  turf  were  broken 
by  miles  of  gravel  walks  laid  out  in  artistic  pattern  around  the  buildings  and 


East  End  Terrace 


grass  plots.  The  aggregate  length  of  these  walks  was  fifteen  thousand  two 
hundred  and  four  linear  feet  exclusive  of  the  Grand  Plaza,  which  had  an  area 
of  eight  thousand  four  hundred  and  eightyrfour  square  yards.  An  irrigation 
system  of  above  twelve  thousand  linear  feet  of  pipe  was  necessary  to  supply 
the  moisture  needed  to  create  and  maintain  this  picture  through  the  torrid 
months  of  the  summer.  Over  one  hundred  thousand  plants  and  flowers,  in 
addition  to  a  vast  number  of  vines  for  decorative  effects,  were  necessary  to 
perfect  the  scheme.  These  were  matured  in  the  green-houses  constructed  t<  >r 
the  purpose  upon  the  grounds  during  the  previous  winter.  Upwards  of  sixty 
beds  of  various  patterns  filled  with  a  score  of  different  varieties  of  lilies. 


Bird's-Eye  View  of  Completed  Exposition  47 

geraniums,  oleanders,  dahlias,  cannas  and  arbutus,  were  laid  out  in  the  grass 
plots  in  the  southerly  half  of  the  tract. 

Inspired  by  the  metamorphosis  wrought  in  the  Bluff  tract,  ex-Senator 
Ingalls  said :  "Of  all  those  vast  movements  of  the  human  race  in  its  westward 
path  across  the  continents  and  seas,  from  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  around 
the  globe,  none  have  surpassed  in  dramatic  circumstances  and  immensity  of 
results,  that  tremendous  migration,  which,  in  less  than  the  lifetime  of  a  single 
generation,  has  transformed  the  dominion  of  the  desert  into  the  garden  ground 
and  granary  of  the  earth.  These  peaceful  hosts,  armed  with  the  alphabet  and 
the  plow,  have  conquered  a  domain  whose  extent  makes  the  conquests  of 
Caesar  and  Napoleon  insignificant.  Overcoming  the  obstacles  of  nature  with 
irresistible  energy  they  have  added  to  the  productive  area  of  the  republic  a 
territory  greater  than  France  and  Germany  combined,  and  to  its  wealth  and 
resources  an  aggregate  that  arithmetic  can  not  compute.  To  celebrate  these 


Viaduct  Towers. 


triumphs,  to  commemorate  an  historic  epoch,  and  to  inspire  mankind  with 
continued  devotion  to  the  ideas  that  have  made  such  annals  possible,  was 
organized  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition.  History 
records  the  wonders  of  Egypt,  its  temples  and  palaces,  its  statues,  pyramids 
and  cities,  its  wealth  and  learning  and  glory,  surviving  the  wrecks  of  thirty 
centuries.  These  were  the  result  of  the  labors  of  a  few  million  slaves,  with 
rude  implements,  upon  the  narrow  margin  of  fertility  along  the  Nile  and  its 
delta,  not  exceeding  in  area  one^-tenth  part  of  the  State  of  Nebraska.  The 
imagination  is  baffled  in  contemplating  the  future  of  that  region,  whose  genesis 
is  told  by  the  Omaha  Exposition,  when  the  toil  of  intelligent  freemen  sup- 
plemented by  machinery  and  new  discoveries  and  inventions  shall  have 
completely  developed  its  unmeasured  resources." 

The  most  noticeable  feature  in  this  beautiful  panorama  was  the  Palace 
of  Horticulture,  which  occupied  a  position  about  in  the  center  of  that  portion 
of  the  Bluff  tract  south  of  our  view-point.  It  was  three  hundred  feet  in  length, 
seventy  feet  in  width  and  twenty-nine  feet  in  height.  Rising  above  the  center 


48  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

was  a  beautiful  dome  covered  with  glass,  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  in  height. 
Above  the  dome  was  an  open  observatory  balcony  from  which  a  grand  view 
of  the  cities  of  Omaha,  South  Omaha  and  Council  Bluffs  could  be  obtained. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  landscape  was  the  aquatic 
basin  in  front  of  the  Palace  of  Horticulture,  which  was  filled  with  an  extensive 
and  valuable  collection  of  pond  lilies,  with  some  magnificent  specimens  of  the 
Victoria  Regina. 

Immediately  south  of  and  opposite  the  center  of  the  Palace  of  Horti- 
culture was  a  unique  cottage  office  building,  small  in  size  but  filling  out  a  wide 
diversity  of  modern  methods  to  render  business  transactions  convenient  and 
comfortable. 

North  of  the  Palace  of  Horticulture  and  occupying  the  four  corners  of 
the  quadrangle  between  it  and  the  Grand  Plaza  were  the  State  buildings  of 
Nebraska,  Iowa,  Wisconsin  and  Illinois.  All  of  these  buildings  were  most 
creditable  contributions  of  their  respective  States  to  the  architecture  of  the 
Exposition.  Naturally,  Nebraska  was  the  largest  and  most  costly  of  the 
group.  It  was  distinctive  in  character,  classic  in  architecture,  and  was  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  feet  in  length,  ninety  feet  in  width,  with  a  central 
dome  sixty  feet  in  diameter,  rising  to  a  height  of  eighty-five  feet,  as  its  most 
conspicuous  feature.  The  Iowa  building  was  a  showy  as  well  as  tasty  edifice, 
with  wide  portico,  and  presented  in  its  architecture  an  inviting  and  hospitable 
appearance.  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  exhibited  the  hospitable  good-will  which 
characterizes  the  West,  and  applied  for  and  received  full  recognition,  respond- 
ing in  the  full  spirit  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States.  Appropriately  grouped 
along  the  easterly  and  westerly  sides  of  the  Bluff  tract,  on  either  side  of  the 
quadrangle  south  of  the  Grand  Plaza  already  described,  were  the  State  build- 
ings of  New  York,  Georgia,  Minnesota,  Kansas  and  Montana.  Also  the 
Pottawattamie  County  building,  the  headquarters  of  Council  Bluffs,  the 
Nebraska  sod  house,  a  building  erected  entirely  of  sod  brought  in  from  the 
prairies  of  Nebraska  and  typical  of  the  early  history  of  the  original  settlers 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  territory,  the  Chinese  building  and  the  exhibit 
buildings  of  the  Omaha  Bemis  Bag  Company,  Montgomery  Ward  and  Com- 
pany and  the  Liggett  &  Myers  Tobacco  Company. 

This  brings  us  from  the  south  end  of  the  Bluff  tract  up  to  the  Grand 
Plaza,  which  was  immediately  east  of  the  southerly  or  main  viaduct  over 
and  across  Sherman  Avenue.  It  was  in  effect  an  out-door  auditorium  with 
seating  capacity  to  the  limit  of  its  area,  on  the  extreme  east  of  which  was  a 
large  stage  or  platform  backed  by  a  high  sounding-board.  Here  were  given 
each  afternoon  and  evening  during  the  Exposition,  weather  permitting, 
concerts  by  the  largest  and  best  musical  organizations  in  the  country,  such  as 
Theodore  Thomas'  Orchestra,  The  United  States  Marine  Band,  The  Mexican 


Bird's-Eye  View  of  Completed  Exposition 


49 


National  Band,  and  others  of  equal  merit  and  popularity.  The  management 
of  the  Exposition  gave  to  the  daily  musical  programs  a  prominent  place,  which 
resulted  in  bringing  visitors  to  the  Exposition  together  twice  each  day,  to 
mingle  not  only  with  one  another,  but  to  come  in  touch  with  the  people  of 
Omaha  who  had  borne  the  burden  of  the  creation  of  the  Exposition,  and  the 
friendships  thus  formed  on  the  Grand  Plaza  during  the  Exposition  have  in 
thousands  of  cases  grown  and  cemented  themselves  to  the  lasting  benefit  of 
individuals  as  well  as  that  of  the  States. 


East  End  of  Grand  Court 

Changing  our  point  of  view  to  the  north,  we  look  upon  a  scene  as  different 
in  character  from  that  which  has  just  engaged  us,  as  the  latter  differed  from 
the  splendor  of  the  Grand  Court.  We  are  now  in  position  to  appreciate  the 
wisdom  of  the  management  in  the  distribution  of  space  to  the  various  features 
of  entertainment  and  amusement.  We  are  also  able  to  comprehend  the 
maximum  of  exhibits  and  entertainment  provided  in  a  minimum  of  space, 
thus  placing  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  far  in  the 
lead  of  all  Expositions  in  respect  to  arrangement  of  its  grounds  as  to  make 
for  the  visitor  a  restful  rather  than  a  tiresome  excursion,  enabling  him  to  enjoy 


50 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


every  feature.  We  have  already  found  the  Grand  Court  with  its  canal  and 
main  exhibit  buildings  so  arranged  as  to  provide  a  maximum  of  study  and 
pleasure,  with  a  minimum  of  weariness.  So  with  the  landscaping  effects 
and  beauty  of  the  southerly  major  portion  of  the  Bluff  tract.  Turning  now 
to  the  north  we  view  the  playground  of  all  nations,  with  the  accompanying 
pandemonium.  Immediately  in  the  foreground  was  the  so-called  East  Mid- 
way stretching  to  the  northerly  limits  of  the  Bluff  tract,  thence  turning  to  the 
west  into  the  West  Midway,  which  occupied  the  southerly  portion  of  the 


East  End  Grand  Court  at  Night 

so-called  North  tract.  First  of  all,  immediately  below  our  point  of  view  at  the 
east  end  of  the  Grand  Court,  are  the  two  great  Restaurant  buildings,  one  on 
either  side  of  the  viaduct  and  on  the  east  line  of  Sherman  Avenue.  These 
were  models  of  architecture,  two  stories  in  height,  with  roof  gardens,  where 
the  multitudes  could  always  find  an  abundance  of  the  best  of  food  to  meet  the 
necessities  of  every  class,  from  the  highest  appointed  banquet  to  the  simple 
luncheon  of  a  roll  and  coffee.  Here  was  served  the  luncheon  and  dinner  to 

• 

the  President  of  the  United  States,  his  cabinet,  staff  and  the  diplomatic  corps, 
served  with  all  the  appropriate  appointments,  and  here  also  the  most  humble 


Bird's-Eye  View  of  Completed  Exposition  51 

could  be  served  with  simple  taste.  Adjoining  the  Restaurant  on  the  north 
was  the  Moorish  Village  housed  in  a  palace,  affording  a  specimen  of  fine 
Moorish  architecture  with  Oriental  dome  and  towering  minarets,  which 
attracted  attention  from  every  point  of  view  within  the  range  of  vision.  Just 
beyond  was  the  Streets  of  Cairo,  where  the  visitor  dropped  into  the  midst  of  an 
Egypt  as  realistic  as  anything  to  be  experienced  after  sailing  the  length  of  the 
Mediterranean.  The  babel  of  tongues  and  the  almost  human  appeal  of  the 
camel  to  mount  his  back  for  a  ride  in  the  imaginary  desert  of  his  native  land 
gave  a  clear  perception  of  the  real  Egypt.  Opposite  these  on  the  East  Midway 
were  the  Japanese  Tea  Garden  and  German  Village,  the  Old  English  Fair, 
the  Baby  Incubator,  the  Mammoth  Whale,  and  various  concessions  ministering 
to  the  hungry  and  thirsty,  but  it  should  be  stated  here  that  no  spirituous  liquors 
were  sold  within  the  gates,  nor  was  any  place  of  amusement  allowed  to  present 
any  feature  which  could  be  criticized  for  a  lack  of  moral  tone.  The  closest 
scrutiny  was  exercised  over  the  moral  atmosphere  of  every  feature  of  the 
Exposition  by  those  highest  in  authority,  as  well  as  those  who  were  charged 
with  carrying  out  the  detail. 

From  a  position  over  the  North  Viaduct  across  Sherman  Avenue,  looking 
west  over  the  West  Midway,  we  find  in  the  foreground  on  the  right  the  Giant 
See-Saw,  an  immense  stack  of  machinery  constructed  on  the  same  principle 
as  the  plaything  of  childhood,  but  with  a  capacity  of  taking  a  crowd  of 
people  into  the  comfortable  little  houses  on  either  end  and  lifting  them  two 
hundred  feet  from  the  ground,  from  which  point  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  three 
cities  and  the  surrounding  country  could  be  had.  Immediately  to  the  left  was 
the  "Shoot  the  Chutes"  sporting  ground,  which  every  visitor  felt  impelled  to 
try  at  least  once,  and  many  enjoyed  frequent  trips.  Next  came  the  Scenic 
Railway,  with  its  plunges  through  tunnels,  over  mountains  and  down  into 
valleys,  always  returning  to  the  starting  point  without  any  apparent  motive 
power.  Beyond  was  the  Wild  West  Show,  the  Old  Plantation,  the  Cyclorama 
of  the  battle  between  the  Monitor  and  Merrimac,  the  Streets  of  All  Nations, 
with  the  only  "Ah  Khoun"  in  charge,  Hagenbach's  Wild  Animals,  Glass 
Blowers,  The  Fall  of  Babylon,  with  countless  other  concessions  of  greater  or 
less  degree,  capable  of  furnishing  amusement  to  the  taste  of  every  visitor, 
regardless  of  \vhence  he  came  or  whither  he  was  traveling. 

Some  distance  to  the  northwest  was  the  largest  of  the  Exposition  build- 
ings, that  of  Transportation  and  Agricultural  Implements.  Being  contiguous 
to  the  main  line  of  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railway,  it  was  convenient  to  the 
system  of  railway  tracks  necessary  to  provide  for  placing  the  exhibits  upon 
the  ground.  This  building  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  length  and 
three  hundred  feet  in  width,  thus  covering  above  three  acres  of  ground.  Its 


52  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

characteristic  architecture  was  half  timber,  half  plaster,  with  its  whole  surface 
marked  off  into  panels  by  an  interesting  network  of  framing-  timbers,  posts, 
brackets  and  braces.  Still  beyond  the  Transportation  building  to  the  north- 
west was  the  Live  Stock  exhibit,  which  equaled  any  ever  given,  both  as  to 
variety,  quality  and  quantity,  as  well  as  to  the  number  of  high  premiums 
awarded  and  the  value  of  the  same.  South  of  the  Live  Stock  exhibit  and 
west  of  the  Transportation  building  was  the  Encampment  of  Indians,  the  most 
unique  in  history,  as  for  many  reasons  it  had  never  before  been  attempted, 


Fine   Arts   Building  at   Night 

and  for  equally  as  many  reasons  can  never  be  reproduced.     It  receives  special 
consideration  in  another  chapter. 

We  have,  in  a  cursory  way,  covered  the  area  of  the  Exposition  grounds, 
and  the  day  being  far  spent  we  will  retrace  our  steps.  Arriving  at  our  former 
position  over  the  South  Viaduct  at  the  east  end  of  the  Grand  Court,  we  can  not 
refrain  from  pausing  again  to  feast  our  eyes  on  the  beauteous  landscape  to 
the  south,  grown  even  richer  in  its  varied  hues.  And  turning  again  to  the 
west  the  Grand  Court  seems  to  have  taken  on  more  grandeur  since  we  left  it. 
We  are  full  of  praise  beyond  utterance  and  prepare  still  further  to  retrace 


Bird's-Eye  View  of  Completed  Exposition  53 

our  way  to  the  entrance  gate,  when  the  Government  building  suddenly 
becomes  outlined  against  the  darkening  sky  with  lines  of  light,  as  does  the 
Palace  of  Fine  Arts  and  the  Palace  of  Agriculture,  the  Administration  Arch 
and  Arch  of  States,  Liberal  Arts  and  Manufactures,  Mines  and  Mining, 
Electricity,  the  Auditorium,  the  Colonnades,  the  Restaurants,  the  Canal,  the 
Fountain  "Nautilus,"  the  Palace  of  Horticulture,  the  State  buildings,  the 
Bluff  tract,  the  Midway  with  all  its  multitudinous  attractions.  Suddenly  a 
dazzling  finger  of  light  carries  the  eye  back  to  the  starting  point.  There  the 
ray  of  a  powerful  searchlight  is  seen  shooting  from  the  torch  in  the  hand  of 
the  heroic  statue  of  ''Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,"  which  surmounts, 
the  Government  building,  and  the  picture  of  fairyland  is  made  complete. 


1 — 1[— 1HE  Exposition  of  1898  marked  a  new  epoch  in  the 
life  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States.     Of  itself  it 
was  an  extraordinary  event  in  the  progress  of  the 
West.    Moreover,  it  was  made  the  fitting  occasion  of  numer- 
ous lesser  events,  which  served  to  magnify  and  round  out  the 
Exposition,  winning  for  it  a  permanent  place  in  the  annals  of 
1 .  \     II        the  prairie  States,  whose  complete  history  can  never  be  written 
•j  i  '    1  \J/  without    a    chronicle    of    the    achievements    of    the   West    as 

illustrated  at  Omaha  in   1898.     Other  chapters  of  this  work  are 
devoted  to  descriptions  of  many  extraordinary  features  of  the  great 
enterprise.     This  chapter  is  a  review  of  a  number  of  the  more  important 
events  incident  to  the  special  clays  which  were  set  apart  as  marking 
celebrations  of  extraordinary  character.     Arbor  Day  was  one  of  these, 
and  while  it  was  celebrated  more  than  a  year  prior  to  the  opening  of 
the  gates,  it  was  chosen  as  a  fitting  day  for  the  ceremonies  incident  to 
the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Arch  of  the  States — April  22,   1897. 
This  was  the  first  ceremonial  of  the  Exposition. 

Arbor  Day  in  Nebraska  means  more  to  its  citizens  than  to  those  of  other 
States,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  late  J.  Sterling  Morton,  its  founder, 
was  one  of  her  foremost  citizens.  His  memory  is  cherished  because  of  the 
great  service  he  rendered  to  his  State  and  country.  Arbor  Day  in  1897 
marked  the  sixty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  birth.  His  motto — "Plant  Trees"- 
has  been  heeded  universally. 

Upon  this  occasion  the  weather  was  propitious — warm  and  clear,  follow- 
ing a  rain  the  previous  night.  The  elements  seem  to  have  conspired  to  make 
the  event  memorable.  Nature's  generous  contribution  to  the  success  of  the 
ceremonies  was  regarded  as  a  favorable  omen. 


56 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


G.   W.  WATTLES 
President 


,., 


ALVIN  SAUNDERS 
Vice-  President 


ARBOR  DAY  — April  22,   1897 

The  column  was  formed  on  Farnam  Street,  near  the  City  Hall,  and  about 
i  :oo  p.  m.  the  procession  moved  to  the  Exposition  grounds  in  the  following 

order : 

FIRST  DIVISION. 

Platoon  of  Police. 

Grand  Marshal,  Major  R.  S.  Wilcox. 

Board  of  Governors,   Knights  of  Ak-Sar- 

Ben  as   Aides. 
Seventh  Ward  Military  Band. 


Mayor  and  City  Council. 

Board  of  Fire  and  Police  Commissioners. 

Continental  Drum  Corps. 

Patriotic  Sons  of  America. 

Elks. 


Directors   of   Trans-Mississippi   and   International   Exposition. 


R.  M.  Stone,  Marshal. 
Omaha  Military  Band. 
Omaha  Guards. 
Commercial  Club. 
Board  of  Education. 


SECOND  DIVISION. 

Board  of  Trade. 
A.  O.  U.  W.  Band. 
High  School  Cadets. 

Gate  City  Lodge,  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen. 


Board  of  Park  Commissioners. 


W.  R.  Bennett,  Marshal. 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Band. 
Thurston  Rifles. 
Advertising  Men's  Club. 


Letter  Carriers. 

THIRD  DIVISION. 

Oakleaf  Circle,  Woodmen  of  the  World. 

Gate  City  Band. 

Council  Bluffs  Cadets. 

Council  Bluffs  Knights  of  Pythias. 


Builders'  and  Trades'  Exchange. 
Woodmen  of  the  World. 


Knights  of  St.  George. 
Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


57 


HERMAN  KOUNTZE 
Treasurer 


C.   S.   MONTGOMERY 
General  Counsel 


H.  E.  Wheelock,  Marshal. 
Steinhauser's  Band. 
Dodge  Light  Guards. 


FOURTH  DIVISION. 

Ak-Sar-Beri  Lodge,  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen. 
Union  Pacific  Lodge,  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen. 
Maple  Camp,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 


FIFTH  DIVISION. 
Twenty-second  Infantry  Band.  Freemasons, 

SIXTH  DIVISION. 
Private  Citizens  in  Carriages. 

On  reaching  the  site  of  the  Arch  of  States  at  Twentieth  and  Pinckney 
Streets  at  2  130  p.  m.,  officers  and  members  of  the  Masonic  Grand  Lodge  of 
Nebraska  marched  between  long  lines  of  the  parade  to  the  platform  where  the 
exercises  were  to  take  place.  A  great  concourse  of  people  had  assembled. 
It  was  a  city  holiday. 

Grand  Master  Charles  J.  Phelps  conducted  the  ceremonies,  assisted  by 
Deputy  Grand  Master  J.  B.  Dinsmore,  Grand  Secretary  W.  R.  Bowen,  Grand 
Treasurer  Christian  Hartman,  Grand  Senior  Warden  F.  H.  Young,  and 
Acting  Grand  Junior  Warden  George  W.  Lininger.  The  wine  and  oil  used 
for  the  ceremony  were  brought  from  Jerusalem  by  Past  Grand  Master  George 
W.  Lininger,  of  Omaha.  The  stone  was  inscribed  "Laid  by  the  Masonic 
Fraternity,  April  22,  1897,  M.  W.  Charles  J.  Phelps,  G.  M." 


58 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


JOHN  A.  WAKEFIELD 
Secretary 


ZACHARY  T.  LINDSEY 

Chairman  of  Executive  Committee  and  Manager 
Department  of  Ways  and  Means 


At  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremonies  the  Grand  Master  delivered  the 
implement  of  the  profession  of  builders  to  Architect-in-Chief  Thomas  R. 
Kimball,  exhorting  him  to  supervise  well  the  construction  of  the  buildings, 
and  then  announced  that  the  corner-stone  had  been  well  laid  and  all  in  due 
form. 

The  President  of  the  Exposition,  Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  then  formally 
introduced  the  various  speakers  of  the  day.  Addresses  were  delivered  by 
Hon.  William  J.  Broatch,  Acting  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Omaha,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Harris  of  Nebraska,  and  the  Hon.  J.  Sterling  Morton,  of  Nebraska 
City,  Nebraska,  ex-Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States. 

(These  addresses,  so  far  as  the  manuscripts  were  obtainable,  will  be 
found  in  their  appropriate  place  in  Part  II.) 


OPENING  DAY  — June  1,  1898 

Xext  in  importance  among  the  historic  events  of  the  Exposition  may 
properly  be  noted  the  Opening  Day.  The  great  work  of  construction  had 
been  completed,  and  true  to  the  sterling  principles  of  business,  characterizing 
the  truly  great  men  who  formed  the  Executive  Committee  which  carried  the 
burdens  of  the  great  enterprise,  and  almost  unprecedented  in  the  history  of 
previous  great  expositions,  the  gates  were  thrown  open  to  the  public  on  the 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


59 


EDWARD  ROSEWATER 
Manager  Department  of  Publicity  and  Promotion 


F.   P.   KIRKENDALL 
Manager  Department  Buildings  and  Ground 


appointed  day  and  at  the  appointed  hour.     Seeming  impossibilities  had  been 
overcome  and  all  obstacles  swept  away. 

In  anticipation  of  this  great  day  the  principal  officials  and  many  prominent 
citizens  of  the  nation  were  formally  invited  to  attend.  The  invitation  was  as 
follows : 

FORMAL  INVITATION 

Although  commemorating  no  single  event  in  the  history  of  the  region  lying  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  has  been  projected  as 
a  demonstration  of  the  marvelous  resources  of  the  Great  West.  In  grateful  recognition  of 
that  spirit  of  progress,  which,  in  the  brief  period  of  half  a  century,  has  transformed  a 
wilderness  into  twenty-four  States  and  Territories,  embracing  more  than  two-thirds  the  area, 
nearly  one-fourth  of  the  wealth  and  one-third  of  the  population  of  our  country,  the  whole 
world  has  been  invited  to  participate  with  us  in  a  display  of  the  arts,  industries,  manufactures 
and  products  of  the  soil,  mine  and  sea. 

The  attention  of  civilization  has  been  called  to  this  display,  not  merely  in  the  spirit  of 
emulation,  but  in  gratitude  to  those  intrepid  pioneers  who  bravely  faced  'dangers  and  over- 
came obstacles  that  the  course  of  Empire  might  not  be  impeded  in  the  westward  march. 
It  is  a  memorial  to  the  indomitable  courage  and  perseverance  of  that  sturdy  vanguard,  no 
less  than  as  an  illustration  of  the  achievements  of  their  successors,  that  the  Trans-Mississippi 
and  International  Exposition  will  open  its  gates  from  June  ist  until  November  ist,  1898.  In 
the  name  of  the  entire  West,  I  most  cordially  invite  your  cooperation  and  the  honor  of  your 
presence.  With  profound  respect,  I  am. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GURDON  W.  WATTLES, 
(SEAL)  President. 


GO 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


E.  E.  BRUCE 

Manager  Department  of  Exhibits 


A.  L.   REED 
Manager  Department  Concessions  and  Privileges 


Special  invitations  were  sent  to  many  to  attend  the  opening  exercises. 
The  day  dawned  bright  and  clear,  and  the  beautiful  sunshine  and  balmy  air 
were  regarded  as  good  omens  of  future  success.  This  was  the  day  to  which 
the  officials  of  the  Exposition  had  looked  forward  with  hope  and  courage  for 
many  weary  months,  and  now  as  they  gazed  at  the  gathering  throngs  and  the 
magnificent  buildings,  practically  complete,  fully  realizing  the  magnitude  of 
their  undertaking  and  the  sacrifices  this  day  with  all  its  triumphs  had  entailed, 
a  feeling  of  thankfulness  and  satisfaction  came  to  them  all.  With  glad  hearts 
and  smiling  faces  the  officials  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  day,  strong  in  the 
belief  that  financial  success  must  follow  the  artistic  success  now  so  clearly  in 
evidence. 

The  opening  ceremonies  were  planned  to  occur  at  twelve  o'clock,  noon, 
when  the  President  of  the  United  States  would  set  the  machinery  in  motion 
by  electric  current  transmitted  from  the  executive  mansion  in  Washington, 
and  formally  declare  the  Exposition  open  to  the  world.  At  10:30  a.  m.  a 
line  of  parade  was  formed  in  the  city,  the  right  of  the  column  resting  on 
Sixteenth  and  Douglas  Streets,  and  moved  to  the  Exposition  grounds  in  the 
following  order : 

FIRST  DIVISION. 


Mounted  Police. 
Platoon  of  Police. 


The  Trans-Mississippi  Troopers  as  Escort  to  the  Parade. 
Grand  Marshal  T.  S.  Clarkson. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


61 


FIRST  DIVISION  — Continued. 

Aides    T.  C.  Shelly,  George  W.  Holbrook, 

Will  H.  Thomas. 
State  University  Cadets,  Major  Charles  H. 

Trice  commanding. 
Council  Bluffs  High  School  Cadets,  Lieut. 

Campbell,  U.  S.  A.,  commanding. 
Webster    Zouaves,    Captain    G.     W.     Sues 

commanding. 

Clarkson   Camp,    Sons  of  Veterans,   South 
Omaha,  Captain  J.  F.  Etter  commanding. 

SECOND  DIVISION. 

Assistant  Marshal  W.  G.  Shriver. 

Aides   J.    A.    Kuhn,    A.    B.    Smith,    R.    W. 

Richardson,  D.  M.  Haverly. 
Randolph     (Iowa)  •  Band,    J.     F.    Greene, 

Leader. 

Officers  of  the  Exposition. 
Speakers  and  invited  guests  in  carriages. 

THIRD   DIVISION. 


W.  N.   BABCOCK 
Manager  Department  of  Transportation 


Assistant  Marshal  Dudley  Smith. 

Aide  George  S.  Wright. 
Cosmopolitan  Band,  George  W.  Green,  Leader. 
The  Benevolent  and  Protective  Order  of   Elks,  escorting. 

The  Travelers'   Protective  Association  of  America,  Joseph  Wallenstein,   President. 
Bechtold's  Band. 

Camp  120,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  Captain  Martin. 
Camp  1454,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  Captain  Ferris. 
Camp  4944,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  Captain  Rosenberg. 
Other  uniformed  civic  societies. 

FOURTH  DIVISION. 

Major  R.  S.  Wilcox,  Assistant  Marshal,  and  Aides. 

Pawnee  City  Band. 

The  Board  of  Governors  and  Knights  of  Ak-Sar-Ben,  mounted. 

The  South  Omaha  Equestrian  Club. 

The  parade,  nearly  two  miles  in  length,  reached  the  grounds  at  eleven 
o'clock  a.  m.,  and  swelled  the  thousands  already  gathered  about  the  speakers' 
stand,  which  had  been  erected  temporarily  at  the  extreme  eastern  end  of  the 
Grand  Court.  The  program  of  the  day  was  as  follows : 

Music — "Jubilee    Overture" • Weber 

U.  S.  Marine  Band,  William  F.  Santleman,  Leader. 
Prayer — Rev.  Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  of  St.  Louis. 
Address — Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  President  of  the  Exposition. 

Music — Song  of  Welcome,  sung  by  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  Chorus,  150  voices. 
Words  by  Henry  W.  Blossom,  Jr.,  of  St.  Louis.     Music  by  Mrs.  H.  A.  Beech,  of  Boston. 
Willard  Kimball,  Director,  accompanied  by  United  States  Marine  Band. 


62  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Address — Hon.  John  L.  Webster,  Omaha. 

Address — Hon.  John  N.  Baldwin,  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa. 

Music — Fantasia — "The  Voice  of  Our  Nation" U.  S.  Marine  Band 

Address — Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb,  Nebraska. 

Starting  of  the  machinery  in  motion  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  from  the  Executive 

Mansion,  Washington. 
Music — National  Hymn — "America." 

Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  Chorus,  U.  S.  Marine  Band  and  Audience. 

At  12:15  p.  m.,  Director  Santleman  of  the  United  States  Marine  Band 
raised  his  baton,  and  the  first  notes  of  the  Jubilee  Overture  were  wafted  out 
upon  the  breezes.  The  music  of  this  famous  organization  was  much  appreciated 
and  applauded.  The  program  of  the  day  was  then  carried  out  amid  great 
enthusiasm.  The  words  of  the  Song  of  Welcome  and  Ode  to  the  Exposition 
were  as  follows : 

Welcome,  thrice  welcome,  to  the  people  of  our  land ; 

Welcome  to  the  people,  the  people  of  the  world ; 
Here,  North  and  South  and  East  and  West,  united  hand  in  hand, 

Have  reared  a  city  and  their  flag  unfurled. 
Welcome,  welcome,  welcome,  to  the  people  of  the  world ! 

Here,  science  weaves  her  wonders,  her  wonders  for  the  mind ; 

Here  stands  arrayed  the  golden  pride,  the  golden  pride  of  art; 
And  Commerce  hath  searched  the  world  to  find 

The  treasure's  rare  and  many,  of  many  a  far-off  mart. 
Welcome,  welcome,  welcome  to  the  people  of  the  world ! 

Welcome,  thrice  welcome  to  the  people  of  our  land ; 

And  to  the  people  of  the  world,  all  hail ! 
And  so  forever  may  this  splendor  in  their  memories  stand 

Undimmed,  although  its  builded  fabric  fail. 
Welcome,  welcome,  welcome  to  the  people  of  our  land ! 

Welcome,  and  to  the  people  of  the  world,  all  hail ! 

Senator  William  V.  Allen  of  Nebraska  was  to  have  made  an  address 
on  this  great  day,  but  he  was  unable  to  be  present,  for  reasons  given  in  the 
following  letter,  which  was  read  by  Hon.  Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock  during  the 
exercises : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  May  28,  1898. 
Hon.  Gurdon  W .  Wattles,  President  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition, 

Omaha. 

DEAR  SIR  :  It  has  become  apparent  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  at 
the  opening  of  the  Exposition.  I  regret  this  extremely,  as  it  has  been  my  desire  to  be 
present,  if  possible,  on  that  occasion.  Having  had  intimate  connection  with  the  promotion 
of  the  enterprise  from  its  inception,  I  have  taken  a  deep  interest  in  its  success,  believing 
that  it  will  furnish  our  people  a  desirable  and  peculiar  means  of  education,  and  that  it  will 
be  highly  valuable  in  attracting  attention  to  Nebraska  in  a  way  that  could  not  be  done  other- 
wise. I  do  not  doubt  the  Exposition  will  be  successful,  and  that  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  people  will  by  it  be  attracted  to  Omaha  and  the  State  at  large,  who  weuld  otherwise  know 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


63 


little  of  the  State  and  city,  and  that  every  one  who  may  visit  Nebraska  during  the  Exposition 
will  be  amply  well  satisfied.  With  our  great  natural  resources,  beautiful  summer  scenery, 
and  the  health-giving  qualities  of  our  climate,  Nebraska  could  not  otherwise  than  prove 
attractive  to  visitors,  apart  from  what  may  be  seen  at  the  Exposition.  Our  possibilities  as  a 
State  are  almost  boundless,  and  at  present  inconceivable.  The  Nebraska  of  fifty  years 
from  now  will  present  one  of  the  greatest  and  richest  agricultural  communities  of  the  world. 
But,  much  as  I  would  like  to  be  with  you,  and  much  as  I  have  desired  and  intended,  if 
possible  to  be,  I  feel  that  I  could  not  excuse  myself  for  leaving  my  post  of  duty  at  this  time, 
when  Congress  is  engaged  in  discussing  ways  and  means  of  raising  money  with  which  to 
successfully  prosecute  the  present  war  against  Spain.  We  were  altogether  too  long  derelict 


Marine  Band— Grand  Plaza 

in  our  duty  to  Cuba.  Within  less  than  one  hundred  miles  from  our  shores,  the  extermina- 
tion of  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  people  by  starvation,  of  old  men,  boys,  women 
and  children,  including  sucklings,  went  on  unchecked  until  one-third  of  the  population  of 
Cuba  have  died  by  that  means.  We  could  no  longer  justify  ourselves  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Christian  and  civilized  world  by  declining  to  take  immediate  cognizance  of  the  conditions 
there  prevailing  and  live  up  to  our  high  professions  of  humanity  by  intervening  in  the  war 
between  Spain  and  her  Cuban  subjects.  We,  of  all  nations  of  the  western  hemisphere,  have 
the  power  to  say  to  Spain  that  she  shall  not  depopulate  Cuba  by  starvation  for  aspiring  to 
gain  the  liberty  we  ourselves  enjoy  and  hold  to  be  the  rightful  heritage  of  all. 

From  the  start  I  have  advocated  Cuban  liberty,  even  at  a  time  when  it  was  not  popular 
in  the  Senate  to  do  so,  and  having  been  a  pioneer  in  the  cause,  I  could  not  feel  that  my 
duty  was  discharged  unless  I  remained  at  my  desk  in  the  Senate  until  the  ways  and  means 
of  raising  the  necessary  money  to  prosecute  the  war  successfully  have  been  fully  determined. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  65 

I  trust  that  I  may  be  permitted  to  spend  a  portion  of  my  summer  vacation  at  the  Expo- 
sition, and  contribute  my  full  share  to  its  success ;  and  if  at  any  time  it  shall  be  deemed 
desirable  by  the  management  for  me  to  deliver  an  address  I  will  gladly  do  so.  I  trust 
that  you  will  do  me  the  honor  of  announcing,  during  the  exercises,  the  fact  that  I  am 
•detained  by  my  duties  at  Washington. 

Expressing  the  hope  and  the  full  confidence  that  the  Exposition  will  be  preeminently 
successful,  and  that  ere  the  summer  is  gone  the  war  with  Spain  will  have  been  successfully 
terminated,  and  Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and  Philippines  made  free,  and  Spain  forever  driven 
from  her  last  foothold  in  territory  on  this  continent,  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  V.  ALLEN. 

(The  invocation  and  addresses  on  the  occasion  will  be  found  in  their 
proper  place  in  Part  II.) 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  addresses,  a  direct  wire  from  the  executive 
mansion  in  Washington  to  the  platform  on  which  these  exercises  were  held 
having  been  secured,  Manager  W.  W.  Umsted,  of  the  local  office  of  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  took  the  following  message  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  which  was  read  by  Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb 
-of  Nebraska : 

The  cordiality  of  the  invitation  extended  to  me  to  be  present  at  the  opening  of  your 
great  Exposition  is  deeply  appreciated,  and  I  more  deeply  regret  that  public  duties  prevent 
me  from  leaving  the  Capital  at  this  time. 

The  events  of  the  memorable  half  century,  which  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International 
Exposition  commemorates,  are  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  nation,  and  are  of  sur- 
passing importance.  The  mighty  West  affords  most  striking  evidences  of  the  splendid 
achievements  and  possibilities  of  our  people.  It  is  a  matchless  tribute  to  the  energy 
and  endurance  of  the  pioneer,  while  its  vast  agricultural  development,  its  progress  in  manu- 
factures, its  advancement  in  the  arts  and  sciences  and  in  all  departments  of  education  and 
endeavor  have  been  inestimable  contributions  to  the  civilization  and  wealth  of  the  world. 

Nowhere  have  the  unconquerable  determination,  self-reliant  strength  and  sturdy  man- 
hood of  our  American  citizenship  been  more  forcibly  illustrated.  In  peace  or  war  the  men 
and  women  of  the  West  have  ever  been  in  the  vanguard.  I  congratulate,  the  management 
upon  its  magnificent  enterprise  and  assure  all  who  participate  in  this  undertaking,  of  the 
•deep  interest  which  the  Government  has  in  its  success. 

WILLIAM  MCKINLEY. 

The  following  excerpt  from  dispatches  from  Washington  pictures  the 
scene  at  the  White  House  at  this  hour  of  the  official  opening : 

Conditions  were  well  nigh  perfect  when  at  i  :3O  o'clock  today,  Washington  time,  cor- 
responding to  12 130  o'clock,  Omaha  time,  President  McKinley  pushed  the  button,  formally 
opening  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition.  Around  the  Chief  Executive 
were  grouped  many  of  the  foremost  men  in  public  life;  men  who  have  been  molding  public 
opinion  for  a  quarter  of  century.  It  was  an  inspiring  scene;  this  culmination  of  many  anxious 
moments,  of  personal  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  given  time  and  money  to  so 
gigantic  an  undertaking  that  out  of  it  might  come  a  better  appreciation  of  the  forces 
dominating  that  vast  territory  which  extends  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
from  the  frigid  North  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  his  short  term  in  the  presidental  chair, 


66  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Major  McKinley  has  shown  patriotic  devotion  to  the  whole  country,  and,  wherever  possible 
in  his  active,  busy  life,  has  lent  his  presence  and  his  help  to  enterprises  of  both  local  and 
national  character. 

In  order  to  conform  to  the  arrangements,  the  hour  of  formally  recognizing  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  as  open  was  deferred  until  1 130  o'clock,  at  which 
time  there  were  assembled  in  President  McKinley's  reception  room  the  following  dis- 
tinguished party:  Senators  Allen  and  Thurston,  Representatives  Mercer,  Stark,  Sutherland, 
Maxwell  and  Greene,  Mrs.  Sutherland  and  daughter,  Mrs.  Greene  and  daughters,  Mr.  Bert 
Wheeler,  all  of  Nebraska;  Representative  Fleming  of  Georgia,  Representative  Johns  of 
North  Dakota,  and  Senator  William  B.  Allison  of  Iowa. 

Considerable  delay  was  experienced  by  Captain  Montgomery  in  getting  a  wire  west  of 
Chicago  direct  to  the  Exposition  grounds,  but  finally  the  welcome  sound  "Omaha"  came  to 
the  alert  telegrapher,  and  there  were  flashed  these  words  by  Montgomery : 

"This  is  the  White  House,  Washington.  When  this  key  closes,  the  President  will 
close  it." 

"Everything  is  ready,  Mr.  President,"  said  Captain  Montgomery,  and  the  Chief  Executive, 
gracious  in  manner,  stepped  to  the  key  of  the  instrument,  and,  depressing  it  with  his  right 
hand,  closed  the  circuit.  Those  in  the  room  stood  during  this  ceremony,  a  ceremony  perhaps 
of  little  interest  in  general,  yet  of  paramount  interest  to  those  gathered  in  the  cool  reception 
room.  At  I  :53  o'clock,  Washington  time,  the  President  announced  that  his  part  of  the 
ceremony  was  done  and  that  the  Exposition  was  formally  opened. 

There  was  clapping  of  hands.  Congratulations  and  thanks  were  extended  to  the  Presi- 
dent for  his  patience  and  affability,  and  for  taking  so  much  time  from  the  affairs  of  the 
nation  in  order  to  give  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  the  benefit  of  hi3 
benediction  and  good  wishes.  Immediately  after  the  pressure  upon  the  button,  the  President's 
message  of  congratulation  was  sent,  which  was  followed  by  congratulatory  telegrams  trans- 
mitted by  members  of  the  Nebraska  delegation,  terminating  a  most  auspicious  event. 

After  the  congratulatory  dispatch  of  the  President  had  been  sent,  Executive  Clerk  Mont- 
gomery sent  the  following  telegram  to  President  Wattles : 

"The  members  of  the  Nebraska  delegation,  assembled  in  the  Executive  Mansion,  beg  leave 
to  extend  their  congratulations  upon  the  auspicious  beginning  of  so  vast  an  enterprise 
as  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition,  and  regret  their  inability  to  be 
present  and  personally  to  participate  in  its  accomplishment." 

WILLIAM  V.  ALLEN. 

JOHN  M.  THURSTON. 

D.  H.  MERCER. 

SAMUEL  MAXWELL. 

W.  A.  STARK. 

R.   D.   SUTHERLAND. 

W.  L.  GREENE. 

Thus  was  concluded  the  formal  exercises  of  Opening  Day.  Following 
these  exercises  the  official  guests  were  entertained  at  luncheon  at  the  Markel 
Cafe. 

At  four  o'clock  an  official  public  reception  was  held  in  the  United  States 
Government  building  at  the  west  end  of  the  main  porch.  At  eight  o'clock 
p.  m.  a  concert  was  given  in  the  Auditorium  by  the  Theodore  Thomas 
Orchestra,  assisted  by  the  Exposition  chorus.  At  nine  o'clock  p.  m.  a  grand 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  67 

illumination  of  fireworks  was  given  in  the  North  tract,  east  of  the  Transporta- 
tion and  Agricultural  Implement  building,  and  thus  the  first  day  of  the 
Exposition  passed  into  history. 

The  total  admissions  on  Opening  Day  were  27,998. 

NEBRASKA  DAY  — June  14,  1898 

This  was  the  day  selected  by  the  Nebraska  State  Commission  for  the 
formal  dedication  of  the  Nebraska  building.  The  day  was  a  typical  Nebraska 
June  clay,  with  clear  sky,  cool  southerly  breeze,  invigorating  and  joyous. 
Special  trains  on  all  the  Nebraska  railroads  brought  thousands  of  visitors  from 
the  interior  and  remote  parts  of  the  State.  The  program  of  exercises  for  the 
day  was  as  follows : 

Invocation    Chancellor   McLean 

(University  of  Nebraska.) 
Music — Song — ''The   Union   of  States   We 

Hail" York  Glee  Club 

Presentation  of  Building  to  the  Exposition — 

Judge  William  Neville. 
Address — 

Governor   Silas  A.    Holcomb,    Nebraska. 
Poem — "Nebraska" — 

Mrs.    Idael  MacKeever,  Stromsburg. 
Address — President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles. 
Address — Hon.  William  J.  Bryan. 
Music— Vocal    Solo— "The    Little    Old    Sod 
Shanty  on  the  Plains"- 

Prof.  Morte  Parsons,  Omaha 
(Words  and  music  by  himself.) 
Address — Hon.   William   F.   Gurley,   Omaha. 
Music— York  Glee  Club. 

Address — Hon.  Constantine  J.  Smyth,  Attor- 
ney-General of  Nebraska. 

William  J.  Bryan 

After  these  exercises  were  concluded,  the  Commissioners  and  honored 
guests  were  served  with  luncheon  at  the  Markel  Cafe.  The  afternoon  and 
evening  were  spent  in  enjoyment  of  the  exhibits,  the  amusements  of  the 
Midway,  the  electric  illuminations  and  the  fireworks. 

WISCONSIN  DAY— June  18,  1898 

Though  Wisconsin  was  not  one  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States,  she 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  Exposition  with  enthusiasm,  and  selected  this 
date  for  the  dedication  of  the  beautiful  building  which  she  had  caused  to  be 
erected  side  by  side  with  Nebraska,  Iowa  and  Illinois. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  69 

The  Wisconsin  Exposition  Commissioners  present  were :  John  C.  Koch, 
of  Milwaukee,  President;  E.  C.  Clas,  of  Milwaukee,  Treasurer  and  Architect 
of  the  building;  J.  E.  Hansen,  of  Milwaukee;  C.  H.  Baxter,  of  Lancaster; 
G.  H.  Grenback,  of  Madison;  H.  D.  Fisher,  of  Florence;  Fred  Kickhefer,  of 
Milwaukee;  Mrs.  Angus  Cameron,  of  LaCrosse;  General  John  Hicks,  of 
Oshkosh;  Mrs.  Leonard  Lottredge,  of  LaCrosse.  The  Commissioners  and 
invited  guests  gathered  at  the  building  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m.  and  the  following 
program  of  exercises  constituted  the  celebration  of  the  dedication  of  this 

building : 

Music — U.  S.  Marine  Band. 

Address — President  John  C.  Koch. 

Response — President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles. 

Music — "The  Bismarck  March,"  by  Mr.  William  A.  Haas. 

Oration — Hon.  William  C.  Quarles,  Milwaukee. 

Original   Poem — Mrs.  John  Goodby. 

At  two  o'clock  p.  m.  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  by  the  women 
of  the 

NATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  WOMEN'S  CLUBS 

Many  of  the  delegates  to  the  National  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs, 
which  was  held  in  Denver  on  June  20,  21  and  22,  stopped  at  Omaha  en  route, 
and  the  Omaha  Women's  Club  took  this  occasion  to  celebrate  their  visit  to 
the  Exposition.  In  many  respects  this  meeting  was  one  of  the  most  notable 
ever  assembled  in  Omaha.  It  included  many  of  the  most  talented  and  pro- 
gressive women  of  the  nation.  The  large  Auditorium  was  comfortably  filled 
when  the  hour  arrived  for  the  opening  of  the  exercises.  Mrs.  Winona  B. 
Sawyer,  of  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  President  of  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers  of 
the  Exposition,  presided,  and  introduced  the  exercises  with  some  well-chosen 
remarks. 

The  program  was  as  follows : 

Prayer — Miss  Margaret  J.  Evans  of  Minnesota,  Dean  of  Carlton  College. 

Music — The  Lorelei  Quartette,  Omaha. 

Address  of  Welcome — Mrs.  Draper  Smith,  President  of  Omaha  Woman's  Club. 

Address — President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles. 

Response — Mrs.  Helen  Henrotin,  Chicago,  President  of  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs. 

Music — "Love  in   Springtime'' Arditi 

Master  Horace  Sims,  the  Boy  Soprano  of  Milwaukee. 

Address— "A  Phase  of  Education" Mrs.  Mary  E.  Mumford,  Philadelphia 

Address— "Art  in  the  Home,  the  School  and  the  Country'' Mrs.  Herman  Hall,  Chicago 

Music — "A  Summer  Midnight" Mrs.  Thomas  Kelly,  Omaha 

Address — "Club  Courtesies" Mrs.  Kate  Tannatt  Woods,  Salem,  Mass. 

Music— "Stay  With  Me" Lorelei    Club 

Address — "The  Keystone  of  the  Education  Arch".  .  .  .Mrs.  Ellen  A.  Richardson,  Boston,  Mass. 

In  the  evening,  at  eight  o'clock,  further  exercises  were  held  in  the 
Auditorium,  at  which  numerous  addresses  were  given. 


70  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

ILLINOIS  DAY  — June  21,  1898 

Illinois  was  another  of  the  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  which 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  Exposition  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  States;  in  fact,  next  to  Nebraska,  appropriated  the  largest  sum 
for  participation  in  the  Exposition.  Her  building  attracted  much  attention, 
and  was  one  of  the  favorites  in  the  group  of  State  buildings.  An  annex  to 
the  building  was  erected  and  maintained  as  an  art  gallery  for  the  Columbian 
Exposition  pictures  painted  by  John  R.  Key. 

The  celebration  in  connection  with  the  dedication  of  the  Illinois  building 
became  an  historic  one,  as  w-ill  appear  in  the  narrative.  Nebraska  had  become 
the  home  of  a  multitude  of  sterling  men  from  Illinois,  and  Omaha  boasted 
of  more  than  her  proportion,  which  created  a  strong  family  feeling  between 
the  two  States.  A  number  of  the  men  officially  connected  with  the  Exposition 
were  formerly  more  or  less  identified  with  Illinois.  Secretary  John  A.  Wake- 
field,  Manager  Freeman  P.  Kirkendall  of  the  Department  of  Building  and 
Grounds,  Vice-President  Alvin  Saunders,  Manager  William  N.  Babcock  of 
the  Department  of  Transportation,  and  Directors  Euclid  Martin  and  Lucius 
Wells,  all  hailed  from  Illinois  in  the  early  days  of  their  business  careers. 

Some  time  previous  to  the  time  announced  for  the  commencement  of 
the  exercises  the  people  gravitated  toward  the  Illinois  building,  and  its  wide 
porches,  rotunda  and  parlors  were  soon  crowded.  As  fast  as  they  came  they 
were  supplied  with  badges  of  white  ribbons  on  which  was  printed  "Illinois 
Day,  June  21,  1898,  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition,  Omaha, 
Neb."  Many  of  the  people  who  came  from  Illinois  to  take  up  their  home  in 
Nebraska  and  neighboring  States  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  renew 
old  acquaintances  with  the  visitors,  and  an  hour  was  spent  very  pleasantly  in 
social  intercourse.  The  members  of  the  Illinois  Commission  who  had  come 
early  to  the  grounds,  the  visiting  delegations  from  the  Chicago  commercial 
organizations  and  large  numbers  of  people  from  all  sections  of  Illinois  had 
gathered  at  the  building  w^hen  the  hour  arrived  for  the  exercises  to  begin. 
The  entire  party  passed  in  a  body  to  the  Auditorium,  and  on  arrival  there 
found  the  large  building  well  filled.  The  interior  was  hung  with  bunting, 
which  lent  an  air  of  gayety  to  the  scene  and  improved  the  acoustics  of  the 
building.  Palms  and  other  foliage  plants  gave  the  stage  a  pleasing  appearance. 
The  Apollo  Musical  Club  of  Chicago  occupied  seats  at  the  back  of  the 
platform. 

At  1 1  :3<D  a.  m.  the  official  party  made  its  appearance  at  the  north  door 
and  marched  down  the  main  aisle  to  the  stage,  preceded  by  the  official  flag  of 
Illinois,  borne  by  J.  Mack  Tanner,  Private  Secretary  to  the  Governor.  Gov- 
ernor and  Mrs.  Tanner  led  the  way,  followed  by  Governor  Holcomb  of 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  71 

Nebraska;  President  Clark  E.  Carr,  of  the  Illinois  Commission;  Chairman 
W.  H.  Harper,  of  the  Executive  Committee;  the  speakers  of  the  day,  members 
of  the  Illinois  Commission  with  their  wives,  delegates  from  the  Union  League 
Club  of  Chicago,  the  Stock  Exchange,  Board  of  Trade,  National  Business 
League,  Chicago  World's  Fair  Directory,  members  of  the  Nebraska  Com- 
mission, members  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Exposition,  members 
of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment,  and  the  official  staffs  of  Governor  Tanner 
and  of  Governor  Holcomb,  all  in  full  uniform.  The  staffs  of  the  Governors 
and  the  Trans-Mississippi  Troopers  were  seated  in  the  center  of  the  house, 
immediately  in  front  of  the  platform. 

The  program  of  exercises  for  the  day  was  as  follows : 

Music — "The  Stars  and  Stripes  Forever" U.  S.  Marine  Band 

Prayer — Chancellor  McLean,  University  of  Nebraska. 

Address — Hon.  W.  H.  Harper,  Chairman  Illinois  Executive  Committee. 

Address — Col.  Clark  E.  Carr,  President  Illinois  Commission. 

Address — Governor  John  R.  Tanner,  Illinois. 

Music — Apollo  Club. 

Address — President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles. 

Address — Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb,  Nebraska. 

Address — Ex-Governor  Joseph  L.  Beveridge,  Illinois. 

When  all  were  seated  the  Marine  Band  made  its  way  to  the  stage  amid  a 
burst  of  applause.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  band  formally  opened  the  exercises 
with  Sousa's  stirring  march. 

(The  addresses  made  on  this  occasion  will  be  found  in  their  appropriate 
place  in  Part  II.) 

Following  the  address  of  Governor  Tanner,  which  was  full  of  patriotic 
sentences,  with  appropriate  allusions  to  the  war  with  Spain,  then  being  carried 
on,  ensued  one  of  the  most  dramatic  scenes  ever  witnessed  at  an  Exposition. 
Colonel  Carr  introduced  Hon.  Melville  E.  Stone,  Manager  of  the  Associated 
Press,  who  had  received  and  read  to  the  audience  a  bulletin  he  had  just  received 
announcing  that  General  Shafter,  with  his  army,  had  arrived  off  Santiago  in 
safety.  The  crowd  went  wild  with  enthusiasm  in  an  instant.  Men  and 
women  jumped  to  their  feet  and  wild  cheers  rent  the  air,  while  the  flutter  of 
dainty  white  handkerchiefs  and  the  waving  of  hats,  canes  and  umbrellas  filled 
the  air.  While  the  cheering  was  at  its  height  the  stirring  strains  of  "The 
Star  Spangled  Banner"  rose  above  the  glad  shouts,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
audience  knew  no  bounds.  Men  and  women  mounted  the  seats  and  waved 
their  arms  in  the  air  as  though  carried  away,  and  the  music  was  almost 
drowned  beneath  the  flood  of  glad  acclaims.  The  audience  soon  joined  in  the 
music,  however,  and  the  shouting  gave  place  to  singing  as  the  whole  audience 
joined  in  the  stirring  war-song. 


72 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


The  enthusiasm  did  not  wane  with  the  cessation  of  the  song.  The  Apollo 
Club  sang  "Illinois,"  and  as  soon  as  this  was  concluded,  without  pause,  the 
Club  sang  "America,"  the  audience  rising  to  join  in  the  song,  and  again  the 
big  building  rang  with  a  volume  of  sound  which  threatened  to  burst  the  walls. 

When  the  enthusiasm  had  slightly  subsided,  Colonel  Carr  announced 
that  as  the  Marine  Band  was  compelled  to  leave  for  Washington  on  the  after- 
noon train,  it  wrould  be  asked  to  play  at  this  point,  instead  of  later  in  the 
exercises,  as  was  originally  intended. 


Government  Building  at  Night 

The  "Voice  of  Our  Nation,"  an  arrangement  of  national  and  patriotic 
airs  and  folk  songs  by  Director  Santelman,  was  selected  by  the  leader,  and  as 
the  familiar  strains  rose  upon  the  air  the  audience  was  again  electrified. 
People  jumped  to  their  feet  and  cheered  madly  as  "Yankee  Doodle.''  "Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  "Dixie,"  "The  Knight's  Farewell,"  and  other  popular  airs 
were  played  in  quick  succession.  Such  enthusiasm  is  rarely  witnessed  in  any 
assembly,  and  the  applause  which  followed  the  conclusion  of  the  selection  was 
continued  unabated  as  the  band  played  "Auld  Lang  Syne"  for  an  encore  and 
then  withdrew. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  73 

The  program  was  then  taken  up  where  it  had  been  interrupted,  and 
President  Wattles'  address  followed. 

Two  weeks  later,  on  the  memorable  fourth  day  of  July,  the  program  of 
the  day  \vas  interrupted  in  the  same  manner  as  is  above  chronicled  by  a 
bulletin  from  the  front  of  General  Shafter's  army,  announcing  that  terms  of 
unconditional  surrender  of  the  Spanish  army  to  General  Shafter's  forces  had 
been  submitted  as  an  ultimatum.  The  scenes  of  tumultuous  enthusiasm  were 
repeated,  forming  a  striking  partnership  between  War,  The  Exposition  and 
Peace.  During  the  memorable  Jubilee  Week  of  the  Exposition  three  months 
later,  President  McKinley,  General  Miles  and  General  Shafter  stood  before 
the  enthusiastic  multitudes  of  visitors  at  the  Exposition  and  told  the  story 
of  the  victories  in  the  war  with  Spain,  as  they  had  personally  had  to  do  with 
their  accomplishment. 

KANSAS  DAY  — June  22,  1898 

The  dedication  of  the  Kansas  building  was  the  event  of  Kansas  Day. 
Situated  on  the  southerly  portion  of  the  Bluff  tract,  it  was  the  center  of  attrac- 
tion and  was  crowded  with  visitors  of  the  Sunflower  State  when  the  party  of 
State  officials  and  members  of  the  Kansas  Exposition  Commission  reached  the 
building  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m.  The  interior  of  the  building  was  handsomely 
decorated  with  bunting,  potted  plants  and  cut  flowers.  The  program  was 
as  follows : 

Trumpet  Call — Trumpet  Corps,  Boys'  First  Regiment  of  Topeka. 

Music — "The  Flag  Without  a  Stain" Male  Quartette,  Topeka 

Address  of  Welcome — Vice-President  J.  E.  Frost,  of  the  Kansas  Commission. 
Response — President  Gurclon  W.  Wattles. 

Song — "Nature's  Adoration" James  W.  Moore,  Topeka 

Address — Hon.  Silas  Porter,  Wyandotte. 

Song — Quartette. 

Taps — Boys'  Trumpet  Corps. 

It  was  a  great  day  for  Kansas,  in  that  it  brought  that  State  and  its  great 
men  as  well  as  its  cosmopolitan  population  into  close  touch  with  each  other 
and  with  her  sister  State,  Nebraska,  and  the  multitudes  of  people  from  every 
State  and  land  under  auspices  unparalleled  in  the  experience  of  most  of  them 
in  connection  with  the  wonderful  sights  of  the  Exposition.  After  the  exercises 
of  the  day  were  completed,  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  in  an  attempt 
to  take  in  all  the  wonders  of  the  great  show. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  75 

IOWA  DEDICATION  DAY  — June  23,  1898 

The  interests  of  the  States  of  Iowa  and  Nebraska  are  so  interwoven  by 
the  two  great  cities  Council  Bluffs  and  Omaha,  united  by  the  bridges  spanning 
the  Missouri  River,  which  only  technically  divides  the  two  States  and  the  two 
cities,  that  Iowa  Day  became  a  united  Iowa  and  Nebraska  Day  at  the  Exposi- 
tion. The  weather  was  the  typical  corn  weather  which  makes  the  face  of 
each  citizen  of  the  two  States,  in  annual  competition  with  each  other  for  third 
place  in  the  list  of  corn-producers  of  the  world,  gleam  with  satisfaction.  "It 
is  mighty  good  corn  weather,"  was  the  salutation  between  the  celebrants  of 
this  day,  much  as  "How"  is  the  universal  salutation  between  the  American 
Indians  when  they  meet.  While  the  Iowa  and  Nebraska  farmers  were  swelter- 
ing in  the  effulgence  of  the  sun  on  Iowa  Day,  they  knew  that  their  corn  was 
growing  so  fast  that  their  hired  men  could  hardly  sleep  nights  from  the  noise 
of  the  cracking  soil  in  which  the  roots  were  working  double  time,  sending 
the  sap  up  the  stalks  to  feed  the  great  ears  forming  in  their  fibre.  The 
merchants  and  professional  men  were  equally  contented  in  contemplation  of 
what  the  big  crop  means  to  the  corn  States.  So  Iowa  Day  was  a  big  day. 

The  Iowa  building,  somewhat  after  the  refreshing  style  of  the  French 
chateau,  was  one  of  the  finest  on  the  Exposition  grounds.  It  was  situated 
directly  west  of  the  Nebraska  building  on  the  Bluff  tract,  in  the  center  of  the 
group  of  State  buildings,  fronting  east  and  overlooking  the  beautiful  valley 
of  the  Missouri  River  and  the  bluffs  on  the  Iowa  side  of  the  river,  back  of  its 
own  city  of  Council  Bluffs.  The  peculiarity  of  the  building  was  its  great  semi- 
circular veranda  in  front,  concave  in  form,  extending  outward  as  if  to  embrace, 
and  each  of  the  two  arms  terminating  in  a  large  pagoda,  a  unique  but  com- 
fortable arrangement,  because  airy  and  convenient,  affording  every  facility 
for  music  and  public-speaking.  The  building  proper  was  two  stories  in  height. 
A  feature  of  the  interior  was  the  fine  tapestry  paintings  representing  Iowa 
rural  scenes  of  various  stages  of  farming.  Another  feature  was  the  huge 
organ  built  by  Paul  E.  Cerruti,  of  Mason  City,  who,  when  a  boy  in  his  teens, 
played  the  organ  of  the  celebrated  cathedral  in  Milan,  Italy. 

As  the  day  advanced  the  crowd  increased,  and  by  the  time  the  exercises 
were  to  commence  the  building  was  filled  to  overflowing,  not  an  inch  of 
standing-room  remaining,  except  such  as  had  been  reserved  for  the  speaker 
and  the  guests  of  honor  for  the  occasion.  The  main  room  and  rotunda  were 
especially  attractive.  Foliage,  plants  and  cut  flowers  were  on  every  side. 

At  two  o'clock  Governor  Leslie  M.  Shaw,  escorted  by  the  members  of  the 
Iowa  Exposition  Commission,  entered  the  grounds.  They  were  met  by  the 
Atlantic  City  Band  and  escorted  to  the  buidling,  the  exercises  commencing 
without  delay.  The  speakers  and  distinguished  guests  occupied  seats  on  the 


7(>  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

wide  veranda  in  front  of  the  center  of  the  building,  and  back  of  them  were 
grouped  the  Dubuque  Choral  Club.  Seated  on  the  platform  were  the  speakers 
of  the  day,  Governor  Holcomb,  of  Nebraska;  Adjutant-General  Barry,  Ex- 
Governor  Alvin  Saunders,  Colonel  Brownlow,  of  the  Post  Office  Department; 
Capt.  W.  W.  Cox,  Secretary  of  the  Government  Board  of  Control;  members  of 
the  Exposition  Committee  and  several  members  of  the  Iowa  Commission.  Fully 
three  thousand  people  were  assembled  in  honor  of  the  occasion,  and  the  flutter- 
ing of  the  gay  ribbons  of  the  feminine  portion  of  the  audience,  the  many 
flags  hung  from  cornice  and  pinnacle,  together  with  the  profusion  of  cut 
flowers,  lent  an  air  of  gayety  and  festivity  to  the  scene  which  made  a  beautiful 
sight.  The  program  of  exercises  was  as  follows : 

Music — Overture Atlantic  City  Band 

Invocation — Rev.  L.  P.  McDonald,  Council  Bluffs. 

Song — "The  Land  We  Love" Sung  by  Dubuque  Choral  Club 

Words  by  Rev.  L.  M.  Waterman,  Dubuque.    Music  by  Prof.  W.  H.  Pontius. 
Address — President  S.  H.  Mallory,  Iowa  Commission. 
Address — Hon.  S.  B.  Packard,  Ex-Governor  of  Iowa. 
Address — Governor  Leslie  M.  Shaw. 
Address — President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles. 
Song — Dubuque  Choral  Club. 
Exposition  Ode — H.  M.  Beyers. 
Oration — Hon.  John  N.  Baldwin,  Council  Bluffs. 

Song — "The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic" Dubuque  Choral  Club 

Address — Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb,  Nebraska. 

Upon  conclusion  of  the  exercises  the  honored  guests  were  entertained 
at  luncheon  at  the  Markel  Cafe,  spending  the  evening  enjoying  the  fireworks 
and  the  scenes  on  the  Grand  Court  and  in  the  Midway. 

POTTAWATTAMIE  COUNTY  DAY  — June  23,  1898 

The  affectionate  relations  of  sisterhood  between  the  Twin  Cities,  Council 
Bluffs  and  Omaha,  were  demonstrated  and  illustrated  on  Iowa  Day  by  dedicat- 
ing a  part  of  the  day  to  Pottawattamie  County,  of  which  Council  Bluffs  is  the 
county  seat.  Council  Bluffs  indicated  early  in  the  history  of  promotion  of 
the  Exposition  that  she  desired  to  become  a  part  of  the  great  enterprise,  and 
to  join  her  twin  sister  Omaha  in  making  it  a  great  success.  To  this  end  she 
desired  to  establish  a  home  for  her  people  on  the  Exposition  grounds,  and 
brought  that  desire  to  fruition  by  constructing  a  wigwam  known  as  "The 
Pottawattamie  County  Wigwam,"  which  was  dedicated  on  the  afternoon  of 
Iowa  Day  immediately  preceding  the  exercises  of  the  State  Day.  It  was 
constructed  on  the  Bluff  tract  in  close  proximity  to  the  Iowa  building,  and 
was  one  of  the  most  unique  structures  on  the  Exposition  grounds.  While 
not  claiming  any  architectural  beauty,  it  was  a  faithful  representation  in 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


77 


mammoth  proportions  of  the  tepee  or  dwelling  tent  of  the  noble  Red  Man  of 
the  Plains.  The  entire  construction  of  the  wigwam  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
a  special  committee  of  the  Association,  of  which  Victor  E.  Bender  was  Chair- 
man and  Dr.  J.  M.  Barstow,  Prof.  J.  C.  Hisey,  Leonard  Everett,  M.  Wollman, 
O.  P.  Wickham,  H.  W.  Bender,  A.  C.  Graham  and  Colonel  W.  F.  Baker 
were  the  other  members.  To  the  untiring  energy  of  the  President  of  the 
Association,  A.  C.  Graham,  who  personally  superintended  the  building  of  the 
wigw^am  from  the  laying  of  the  foundation  to  the  last  touches  of  the  decora- 
tions, was  due  the  successful  completion  of  this  most  unique  structure. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Council 
Bluffs  Association  consisted  of  the  following 
citizens :  Victor  Jennings,  W.  S.  Beard,  Victor 
E.  Bender,  George  Carson,  H.  I.  Forsythe,  Sam- 
uel Haas,  J.  C.  Hisey,  J.  E.  Hellenbeck,  C.  H. 
Judson,  W.  A.  Maurer,  N.  M.  Pusey,  H.  W. 
Sawyer,  I.  M.  Trey  nor,  M.  Wollman,  Leonard 
Everett,  George  F.  Wright,  J.  C.  Mitchell,  H.  P. 
Barrett,  H.  W.  Bender,  G.  N.  Bowen,  E.  F.  Clark, 
A.  C.  Graham,  E.  W.  Hart,  A.  P.  Hanchett,  A.  S. 
Hazelton,  F.  H.  Keys,  William  Moore,  J.  A.  Pat- 
ton,  W.  I.  Smith,  E.  H.  Walters,  A.  W.  Wyman, 
Emmet  Tinley,  L.  A.  Casper,  J.  M.  Barstow,  F. 
A.  Bixby,  W.  C.  Boyer,  J.  H.  Cleaver,  J.  P. 
Greenshields,  J.  P.  Hess,  J.  A.  Hereld,  W.  C. 
James,  C.  F.  P.  Froom,  J.  T.  Oliver,  M.  F. 
Rohrer,  E.  F.  Test,  O.  P.  Wickham,  O.  Younkerman,  Lucius  Wells,  H.  B. 
Jennings. 

The  exercises  of  the  dedication  of  the  Wigwam  took  place  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  The  building  was  crowded  with  people  from  Council  Bluffs 
and  Pottawattamie  County.  The  program  was  as  follows : 


Pottawattamie  County  Day 


Music — Apollo  Mandolin  Club. 
Invocation — Rev.  G.  W.  Snyder. 
Address — President  A.  C.  Graham. 
Address — Mayor  Victor  Jennings. 


Music — Apollo  Mandolin  Club. 
Address — Hon.   Spencer  Smith. 
Address — Hon.  Walter  I.  Smith. 
Music — Apollo  Mandolin  Club. 


Following  the  great  days  already  referred  to  as  historic  days  of  the 
Exposition  came  Swedish- American  Day,  June  24;  Royal  Arcanum  Day, 
June  25;  Montana  Day,  June  29;  Turners'  Day  and  Musical  Congress  Day, 
June  30 ;  Texas  Melon  Day,  July  I ;  National  Council  of  Congregational 
Churches,  July  2. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  71) 

INDEPENDENCE  DAY  — July  4,  1898 

Independence  Day  connotes  historic  events  whenever  it  occurs  and  wher- 
ever it  is  celebrated,  but  Independence  Day  during  the  Exposition  was  in 
many  respects  one  of  the  greatest  of  days,  in  that  it  marked  the  final  victory 
of  the  war  with  Spain,  which  broke  out  before  the  building  of  the  Exposition 
was  far  advanced,  and  was  now  ended,  while  the  Exposition  was  in  the  zenith 
of  its  glory.  In  all  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  years  that  intervened 
between  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  this  notable  day,  the  national 
holiday  was  never  more  strikingly  signalized.  Mingling  with  the  vast  throng 
of  American  men,  women  and  children  assembled  on  the  Exposition  grounds 
were  Turks,  Algerians,  Arabs,  Moors  and  Chinese,  who  participated  in  the 
great  celebration  in  honor  of  the  stars  and  stripes. 

The  glory  of  the  July  morning  was  still  in  its  incipiency  when  the  gates 
of  the  Exposition  were  thrown  open  and  the  people  began  to  pour  in.  By 
ten  o'clock  every  corner  of  the  grounds  was  thronged  with  people.  The 
grounds  presented  as  striking  and  inspiring  a  spectacle  as  ever  lay  under  a 
cloudless  sky.  For  the  time  the  incomparable  beauties  of  the  Exposition 
itself  were  eclipsed  by  the  brilliant  spectacle  which  it  framed.  Flags  and 
streamers  innumerable  waved  over  avenues  made  doubly  attractive  by  the 
pretty  summer  raiment  of  thousands  of  women.  A  dozen  bands  made  the 
air  tremulous  with  inspiring  strains,  and  in  patriotic  mingling  of  sound  and 
color  the  great  white  buildings  glistened  like  celestial  palaces.  Thousands 
of  yards  of  bunting  waved  in  red,  white  and  blue  profusion  from  every  possible 
vantage.  A  thousand  flags  floated  from  the  staffs  of  the  main  building  and 
streamers  of  bunting  were  festooned  over  the  avenues  and  along  the  fronts 
of  the  smaller  buildings.  Even  the  peanut  stands  were  decorated  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  visitors  wore  flags  pinned  on  their  breasts  or  fastened  to 
their  hatbands. 

The  first  grand  spectacle  of  the  day  was  the  Parade  of  All  Nations,  being 
a  triumphal  pageant  made  up  of  all  the  attractions  on  the  Midway.  It  was 
different  from  any  ever  witnessed  before.  The  participants  were  from  many 
nations  of  the  earth,  costumed  in  the  garb  of  the  countries  from  which  they 
came.  The  management  of  this  polyglot  parade  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
representatives  of  the  different  nationalities  participating. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  ten  o'clock,  a.  m.,  the  procession  moved  off  as  if  it 
had  been  arranged  by  clock-work,  the  start  being  made  from  the  West  Midway. 
Grand  Marshal  Bostwick  was  in  the  lead,  accompanied  by  a  detachment  of 
the  Exposition  Police,  the  members  of  which  cleared  the  way.  Next  came 
the  band  from  Hagenbach's  live  animal  show,  which  in  turn  was  followed  by 
the  performing  animals  from  the  ring.  In  the  collection  Matt.  Johnson,  the 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  81 

king  of  wild  animal  trainers,  was  the  central  feature,  occupying  a  place  upon 
an  open  float  surrounded  by  wild  beasts  from  the  jungle. 

After  these  came  representatives  from  each  of  the  Midway  attractions, 
making  a  column  most  wonderful  in  its  variety  and  attractiveness.  An  inter- 
esting feature  in  the  procession  was  an  allegorical  representation  of  an  Oriental 
wedding  and  the  attendant  ceremonies,  given  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
olive-skinned  natives  of  the  Orient.  They  hailed  from  the  "Streets  of  Cairo," 
and  had  quite  an  animal  show  of  their  own,  including  a  dozen  camels,  as 
many  donkeys  and  half  as  many  horses.  The  bride  was  attired  in  a  gorgeous 
gown  of  light  blue  silk,  and  with  her  diminutive  groom  walked  under  a  canopy 
of  rich  velvet  borne  by  four  small  boys  in  blue.  The  scene  represented  the 
returning  march  from  the  wedding  ceremony  to  the  home  of  the  groom.  There 
were  bridesmaids  in  pink  and  white,  the  pink  waists  being  as  short  as  the  white 
skirts  were  long.  They  all  rode  camels  and  beamed  at  the  crowds  through 
several  layers  of  rouge.  The  father  of  the  bride  preceded  her,  and  whirled 
a  sword  defiantly,  intimidating  those  who  would  attempt  to  steal  her.  Then 
there  were  attendants  of  the  bride,  male  and  female,  some  of  whom  were 
mounted  while  others  danced  along  to  familiar  Midway  strains.  The  pet 
dog  of  the  Streets  of  Cairo,  Nellie  Gray,  was  decorated  in  red,  white  and  blue 
and  was  accompanied  by  Arabian  children.  The  tally-ho  of  the  Pabst  Con> 
pany  vaudeville  hall  was  a  gala  affair. 

Memories  of  the  pioneer  celebration  of  Independence  Day  were  recalled 
by  the  appearance  of  the  Indians  and  cowboys  connected  with  the  Wild  West 
Show.  The  red  men  and  the  white  men  from  the  mountains  and  plains  made 
a  striking  showing,  and  their  display  was  one  of  the  creditable  features  of 
the  procession.  First  came  the  cowboy  band,  seventy  musicians  dressed  in 
corduroy  trousers  with  heavy  boots,  blue  flannel  shirts,  bandana  ties  and  big 
sombreros,  playing  popular  airs  along  the  line  of  march.  Then  there  were 
fifty  riders  representing  the  real  Western  cowboy  and  the  representation  was 
typical  throughout,  to  the  wonder  and  delight  of  the  people  from  the  East, 
whose  only  conception  of  the  real  Western  cowboy  life  was  obtained  from 
dime  novels  and  yellow  journals.  A  dozen  Indians  followed  the  riders,  and 
they  were  all  strikingly  painted  in  the  liveliest  of  war  colors.  The  old  stage 
coach  of  the  Black  Hills,  occupied  by  a  score  of  passengers  who  had  lost  the 
typical  expression  of  anxiety  prevalent  in  the  pioneer  days,  lest  they  should  be 
held  up  by  bandits  before  reaching  their  destination,  followed.  Then  came  the 
immigrant  wagon,  which  had  plainly  seen  better  days. 

"The  Heathen  Chinee"  from  the  Chinese  Village,  fifty  strong,  had  with 
them  the  musical  instruments  of  their  native  country  and  were  clothed  in  their 
native  holiday  garb. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  83 

The  Bombardment  of  Matanzas  was  represented  by  a  party  of  men  on  a 
gaudy  float,  all  of  whom  were  clothed  in  sailor  uniforms,  and  in  addition 
there  was  a  miniature  reproduction  of  the  harbor  of  Matanzas  as  it  appeared 
before  the  guns  of  the  American  fleet  were  turned  upon  the  city.  Just  to 
give  emphasis  to  the  spirit  of  '98,  "The  Destruction  of  the  Maine"  was  rep- 
resented by  a  float  upon  which  there  was  a  hundreds-pound  cannon  together 
with  a  band  of  marines.  This  float  was  cheered  along  the  lines  of  march. 

One  of  the  most  notable  displays  was  made  by  the  German  Villagers.  It 
included  two  immense  floats,  each  drawn  by  six  horses,  and  five  well-filled 
carriages  trimmed  in  red,  white  and  blue,  conveying  the  management  and  the 
singers,  dancers  and  acrobats  who  amused  the  villagers  and  guests  by  day  and 
by  night. 

Over  two  hundred  swarthy  men  and  women  in  charge  of  the  "Only" 
Gaston  Akoun,  represented  the  Streets  of  All  Nations,  and  formed  a  fitting 
conclusion  of  the  unique  parade.  Camels  and  donkeys  ridden  and  driven  by 
people  from  a  dozen  countries,  all  clothed  in  the  garb  of  the  nations  \vhich 
they  represented,  richly  decorated,  presented  an  attractive  feature  as  they 
marched  from  one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other.  Oriental  songs  were  sung  and 
to  the  music  the  sword  fighters  kept  time  with  their  weapons  and  shields. 
The  actresses  of  the  "Streets,"  clad  in  raiment  of  finest  silk  from  which 
innumerable  jewels  glistened,  rode  in  carriages. 

The  program  of  the  day  was  as  follows  : 

Music — Fourth  Regiment  Band,  Sioux  City. 

Invocation — Rev.  T.  J.  Mackay,  Omaha. 

Music — "America,"  Exposition  Chorus. 

Reading  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence — Hon.  John  C.  Wharton,  Omaha. 

Oration — Hon.  James  M.  Beck. 

The  program  was  interrupted  after  the  music  of  the  Fourth  Regiment 
Band  by  receipt  by  President  Wattles  of  a  war  bulletin,  announcing  that 
General  Shafter  had  submitted  an  ultimatum  of  unconditional  surrender  to 
the  Spanish  troops  defending  Santiago,  and  that  his  lines  completely  sur- 
rounded the  town  from  the  bay  on  the  north  of  the  city  to  a  point  on  San 
Juan  River  on  the  south.  Later  on  the  celebration  was  again  interrupted 
by  receipt  of  a  bulletin  as  follows : 

PLAYA,  via  Hayti,  3:15  a.  m. :  The  fleet  under  my  command  offers  the  nation  as  a  Fourth 
of  July  present  the  destruction  of  the  whole  of  Cervera's  fleet.  No  one  escaped.  It  attempted 
to  escape  at  9:30  a.  m.,  and  at  two  p.  m.  the  last,  the  Christobal  Colon,  had  run  ashore  six 
miles  west  of  Santiago  and  had  let  down  its  colors.  The  Infanta  Marie  Teresa,  Oquendo 
and  Vizcaya  were  forced  ashore,  and  were  burned  and  blown  up  within  twenty  miles  of 
Santiago ;  the  Furor  and  the  Pluton  were  destroyed  within  four  miles  of  the  port.  Loss, 
one  killed  and  two  wounded.  Enemy's  loss  probably  several  hundred  from  gunfire,  explosion 
and  drowning.  About  thirteen  hundred  prisoners,  including  Admiral  Cervera. 

SAMPSON. 


84  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

As  this  was  the  dispatch  which  marked  the  end  of  the  war  with  Spain,  it 
is  needless  to  add  that  the  enthusiasm  was  so  intense  that  bedlam  might  be 
said  to  have  broken  loose  among  the  multitude  and  the  scenes  under  similar 
circumstances  on  Illinois  Day  were  re-enacted.  The  celebration  continued 
well  into  the  night. 

The  usual  display  of  fireworks  was  augmented  by  the  illumination  of  the 
Midway,  and  the  Street  presented  a  most  animated  scene  from  end  to  end. 
Hundreds  of  red,  white  and  blue  fires  turned  night  into  day. 

It  is  estimated  that  twenty-five  thousand  people  gathered  on  the  North 
Tract,  to  view  the  fireworks,  which  were  entirely  in  keeping  with  the  impor- 
tance of  the  clay  and  its  events.  There  were  bombs  in  profusion,  the  showers 
of  colored  stars  which  burst  from  the  flying  balls  lighting  up  the  heavens 
with  many  colors.  Skyrockets  and  Roman  candles  of  the  latest  type,  flower- 
pots, snakes  and  all  the  devices  common  to  modern  pyrotechnic  art  formed  a 
background  for  the  display  of  elaborate  set-pieces  which  won  the  plaudits  of 
the  assembled  multitude. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  set-pieces  portrayed  the  "Father  of  His 
Country."  The  immortal  Washington  was  shown  in  fire,  mounted  on  a 
charger  emerging  from  an  arch  surmounted  by  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  United 
States.  Colored  fire  was  used  to  bring  out  various  parts  of  the  device  in  the 
most  effective  manner.  "Niagara  on  Fire,"  was  another  marvelous  piece,  as 
was  a  third  representing  an  elephant  and  a  group  representing  two  goats 
bucking  at  one  another.  The  display  concluded  with  a  piece  representing  two 
battleships,  one  flying  "Old  Glory"  and  the  other  the  Spanish  flag.  A  battle 
was  waged  in  fire  for  several  minutes  with  bombs  and  other  pyrotechnic 
devices,  the  conclusion  being  the  extinction  of  the  Spanish  ship,  which  was 
the  signal  to  reopen  the  shouting  and  enthusiasm  of  the  afternoon.  Bedlam 
broke  loose  again  and  would  not  be  quieted  until  the  lights  went  out  at  mid- 
night. This  ended  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  historic  days  of  the  Exposition. 
The  total  admissions  for  Independence  Day  were  44,452. 

Independence  Day  marked  in  a  way  the  dividing  line  between  the  experi- 
mental period  and  the  era  of  assured  success  of  the  Exposition.  The  eventful 
and  historic  days  followed  in  rapid  succession,  as  follows : 

Massachusetts  Day,  July  n;  Children's  Day,  July  14;  Military  Day, 
July  16;  Minnesota  Day,  July  20;  Indian  Day,  August  4;  Flower  Day. 
\ugust  5;  Kansas  City  Day,  August  6;  Red  Men's  Day.  August  10;  l/nited 
States  Life  Saving  Day.  August  i  i  ;  St.  Joseph  Day.  August  13;  Texas  Day, 
August  18;  Des  Moines  Day.  August  2$  ;  Omaha  ll'orhl-Hcrahl  and  Nebraska 
Editors'  Day,  August  24:  Sioux  City  Day.  August  .'5:  Knheinian  Day.  August 
27;  Cody  Day.  August  31:  Kan-a-  Day.  September  i:  Nebraska  Peach  and 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


85 


Flower  Day,  Grand  Plaza 

Pottawattamie  County  (Iowa)  Grape  Day,  September  2;  National  Editorial 
Association  Day,  September  3;  Montana  Day,  September  6;  Military  Day, 
September  7;  Hoo  Hoo  Day,  September  9:  Shriner  Day,  September  14;  Okla^ 
homa  Day,  September  16;  Iowa  Day,  September  21;  Modern  Woodmen  Day, 
September  22 ;  Twenty-Second  United  States  Infantry  Day,  September  23 : 
Swedish  Day,  September  28;  Georgia  Day,  September  30;  Chicago  Day, 
October  i;  Live  Stock  Day,  October  3;  Pennsylvania  Day,  October  5;  Ohio 
Day,  October  7;  New  York  Day,  October  8. 

(These  Historic  Days  and  the  events  attached  to  them  will  be  given 
consideration  in  an  appropriate  place  in  Part  II.) 

This  leads  us  up  to  perhaps  the  greatest  historic  week  of  the  Exposition. 


86  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

JUBILEE  WEEK 
October  10  to  October  15  Inclusive 

As  will  be  recorded  elsewhere  in  this  history,  the  war  with  Spain  was 
begun  and  ended  during  the  building  of  the  Exposition,  and  came  near  to 
wrecking  it,  by  reason  of  the  absorption  of  the  whole  people  in  that  sanguinary 
event  to  the  exclusion  of  other  things;  but  out  of  it  came  the  Peace  Jubilee 
of  the  Exposition,  the  most  brilliant  of  the  historic  events. 

This  Jubilee  occupied  the  week  October  10  to  15,  inclusive.  Ever 
since  the  close  of  the  Spanish  War,  arrangements  had  been  vigorously  carried 
on  to  make  this  Jubilee  well  worthy  of  our  great  nation.  Much  thought, 
time  and  money  had  been  expended  by  the  Exposition  management  to  make  it 
a  crowning  success.  The  President  of  the  United  States,  iwith  his  Cabinet, 
the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and  the  prominent  generals  of  the  army  and  navy, 
from  the  seat  of  government  had  been  invited,  and  responded  with  cheerful 
enthusiasm.  A  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  was  sent  to  Washington 
to  accompany  the  special  trains  which  were  to  transfer  them  to  Omaha. 
Representatives  of  the  great  newspapers  of  the  country  also  accompanied 
them. 

MAYORS'  DAY 

The  opening  day  of  Jubilee  week  was  Monday,  October  10,  and  was 
denominated  Mayors'  Day.  The  Mayors  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  West 
were  invited  to  attend  and  participate  in  the  exercises.  Many  were  present, 
but  with  the  usual  modesty  of  these  distinguished  officials,  but  few  participated 
in  the  exercises  as  speakers.  The  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at 
eleven  o'clock  a.  m.,  with  the  following  program : 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

Invocation — Rev.  T.  J.  Mackay. 

Welcome — Mayor  Frank  E.  Moores,  Omaha. 

Response — Mayor  George  T.  Baker,  Davenport,  Iowa. 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

Address — Mayor  John  MacVickar,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

After  the  exercises  a  luncheon  was  served  at  the  Markel  Cafe,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  in  viewing  the  many  special  attractions  on  the 
Exposition  grounds,  and  the  grand  illumination  and  fireworks  in  the  evening. 

GOVERNORS'  DAY  — October  11,   1898 

The  Governors  of  all  the  Trans-Mississippi  States  had  been  invited  to 
attend  and  participate  in  the  exercises  of  Governors'  Day,  but  few  were 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


87 


to  the  celebration   of  their   State  Days.      The   exercises   were   held   in   the 
Auditorium  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m.,  with  the  following  program : 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

Invocation — Rev.  S.  Wright  Butler. 

Welcome — Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb,  Nebraska. 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

Address — Governor  Alva  Adams,  Colorado. 

Address — President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles. 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

After  the  exercises  a  luncheon  was  served  to  the  invited  guests  at  the 
Markel  Cafe,  and  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  the  usual  manner. 

PRESIDENT  McKINLEY'S  VISIT 


On  the  evening  of  October  n, 
two  special  trains,  bearing  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  his 
distinguished  party,  arrived  at 
Omaha  at  eight  o'clock.  President 
Wattles  of  the  Exposition  designated 
the  guests  to  be  entertained  by  offi- 
cers of  the  Exposition,  members  of 
the  Executive  Committee  present,  as 
many  of  them  had  before  partici- 
pated in  special  exercises  incident 
and  of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment. 
These  met  at  the  Omaha  Club  early 
in  the  evening  and  were  conveyed  in 
carriages  to  the  station  to  meet  the 
incoming  trains. 


President  McKinley  and  President  Wattles 

The  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  met  the  Presi- 
dent's train  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  and  briefly  welcomed  the  President  and 
his  party  to  Omaha  and  the  Exposition.  On  arrival  at  Omaha  the 
distinguished  guests  were  conveyed  in  carriages  to  the  City  Hall  in  the 
following  order : 

Carriage  No. 

1.  President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles  and  President  William  McKinley. 

2.  Vice-President  Alvin  Saunders,  Mrs.  Saunders  and  Dr.  Garcia  Meron. 

3.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Z.  T.  Lindsey  and  Chinese  Minister  Wu  Ting  Fang  and  wife. 

4.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  Rosewater  and  Corean  Minister  Chin  Pom  Ye  and  wife. 

5.  Mr.  and   Mrs.   F.    P.   Kirkendall   and   Brazilian    Minister   Brasil,   and   Gonzolo    de 

Quesada,  charge  d'affaires  of  the  Cuban  Junta. 

6.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herman  Kountze  and  Secretary  of  the   Treasury,  Hon.   Lyman  J. 

Gage. 

7.  Mr.  E.  E.  Bruce  and  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Hon.  Cornelius  X.  Bliss. 

8.  Mrs.  E.  E.  Bruce  and  Secretary  of  Agriculture  Wilson  and  Miss  Wilson. 


88  Trails-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Carriage  No. 

9.     A.  L.  Reed  and  Governor  Alva  Adams,  Colorado,  and  Governor  Silas  A.  Holcombv 
Nebraska. 

10.  Mrs.  A.  L.  Reed  and  Senator  W.  V.  Allen  of  Nebraska  and  Mrs.  Allen. 

11.  Senator  John    M.   Thurston  of   Nebraska  and  Dr.   R.   W.   Baker  and   Mrs.   J.   V. 

Creighton. 

12.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  N.  Babcock  and  Major-General  and  Mrs.  Miles. 

13.  Congressman  D.  H.  Mercer  and  Brigadier-General  W.  V.  Sumner. 

14.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  S.  Montgomery  and  General  A.  W.  Greely. 

15.  Secretary  John  A.  Wakelield  and  Mrs.  Wakefield,  and  General  Charles  F.  Hum- 

phrey and  Mrs.  Humphrey. 

16.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  L.  Webster  and  Major  and  Mrs.  O.  S.  Heistand  and  Miss  Martin. 

17.  Major  H.  C.  Ward,  Ass't  Secretary  of  War  Meikeljohn  and  J.  Addison  Porter, 

Secretary  to  President  McKinley. 

18.  J.  R.  Dunn  and  Captain  Arthur  Paget. 

19.  Mrs.  J.  R.  Dunn,  Colonel  Francis  Micheler  and  Colonel  W.  M.  Black. 

20.  Mrs.  Major  H.  C.  Ward,  Colonel  James  Allen  and  Captain  H.  M.  Whitney. 

21.  President    Bingham   of   Omaha    City    Council   and    Secretaries    A.    Delviso    of    the 

Argentine  Minister,  Tam  E.  Ye  of    the  Corean  Minister  and  Leme  of  Brazilian 
Minister. 

22.  Mrs.  D.  H.  Mercer  and  Mrs.  Chow  Toz  Chi,  Whang  Chang  Huli  and  Kwang  Hany, 

Secretaries  to  the  Chinese  Minister. 

23.  John  C.  Wharton,  Prof.  W.  L.  Moore,  Chief  of  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau,  and  Mrs. 

Moore. 

24.  Mrs.  John  C.  Wharton  and  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education  W.  T.  Harris  and  Mrs. 

Harris. 

25.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  C.  Cowin  and  Captain  McWilliams  and  Mrs.  McWilliams. 

26.  Mrs.  W.  A.  Redick.  Miss  Greely. 

27.  Mrs.  G.  M.  Hitchcock  and  Mrs.  Geo.  B.  Cortelyou. 

28.  Mrs.  J.  E.   Summers,  Jr.,  and   Mrs.   George  A.   Joslyn,   Miss  Humphrey  and   Mrs. 

Howland. 

29.  Mrs.  C.  W.  Lyman  and  George  F.  Bidwell,  and  General  John  C.  Black,  Mrs.  Black. 

30.  31,  32  and  33,  G.  M.  Hitchcock,  and  fifteen  representatives  of  the  press,  accompany- 

ing the  party. 

The  Board  of  Governors  of  the  Knights  of  Ak-Sar-Ben,  in  their  natty 
uniforms,  mounted,  formed  the  escort  of  honor,  and  as  the  distinguished 
guests  passed  along  the  streets,  tens  of  thousands  of  the  citizens  of  Omaha 
and  visitors  greeted  the  President  and  the  other  noted  officials  with  great 
enthusiasm.  Every  available  space  along  the  streets  was  occupied,  and  in 
front  of  the  City  Hall,  completely  filling  the  street  and  the  Court  House  lawn, 
the  largest  concourse  of  people  ever  gathered  within  the  city  awaited  the 
arrival  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  his  party.  On  the  reviewing 
stand  in  front  of  the  City  Hall  were  gathered  many  representative  citizens 
of  Omaha  and  the  Trans-Mississippi  territory,  and  as  President  McKinley 
appeared,  a  great  shout  of  welcome  went  up,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty 
that  order  was  restored  and  a  way  cleared  through  the  street  for  the  passing 
pageant,  which  consisted  of  the  electrical  parade  of  the  Knights  of  Ak-Sar-Beru 
unexcelled  in  the  spectacular  and  artistic  beauty  of  its  floats. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  891 

President  McKinley  paid  his  respects  to  the  Mayor  of  the  city  by  an 
official  call  at  his  office,  and  after  many  compliments  on  the  magnificent 
spectacle  he  had  witnessed,  he  retired  with  the  other  members  of  his  party  and 
was  conveyed  to  the  Omaha  Club,  which  had  been  generously  tendered  by  its- 
members  to  the  exclusive  use  of  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  during  their 
sojourn  in  the  city.  It  became,  for  the  time  being,  the  executive  mansion, 
and  the  official  flag  of  the  Chief  Executive  floated  from  the  peak  of  the  flag- 
staff from  sunrise  to  sunset  during  the  sojourn. 

At  the  Club  a  magnificent  banquet  was  served  to  the  distingushed 
guests  by  the  officers  of  the  Exposition,  and  it  was  a  late  hour  when  all 
retired  to  await  the  morning  of 

PRESIDENT'S  DAY  — October  12,  1898 

The  day  was  ushered  in  by  a  glorious  sunrise  and  beautiful  sky,  giving- 
promise  of  a  typical  Nebraska  October  day  unsurpassed  in  any  clime.  At 
an  early  hour,  before  the  gates  of  the  Exposition  were  opened,  thousands  of 
visitors  had  made  their  way  by  every  possible  means  of  conveyance  to  the 
Exposition  grounds.  It  was  apparent  that  the  admissions  department  of  the: 
Exposition  would  be  put  to  severe  test  in  promptly  passing  through  the  gates 
the  immense  throngs  sure  to  attend.  Street  cars,  railway  trains,  carriages  and 
every  means  of  conveyance  were  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  carry  the  crowds  to- 
the  Exposition  grounds.  The  total  admissions  for  the  day  were  98,845. 

The  Second  Nebraska  Regiment,  just  returned  from  the  campaign  of 
the  war  with  Spain,  assisted  in  preserving  order  on  the  grounds.  The 
regiment  was  drawn  up  in  two  solid  lines  reaching  from  the  entrances  to  the 
Bluff  tract  to  the  grand  stand  on  the  Grand  Plaza,  forming  a  passage  way 
for  the  President  and  his  escort  through  the  immense  crowds  filling  the 
grounds.  At  10:30  the  distinguished  guests  in  carriages,  in  the  order  of  the 
evening  before,  arrived  at  the  grounds  and  were  admitted  and  passed  through 
the  avenue  to  the  grand  stand  where  the  exercises  of  the  day  were  held.  In 
front  of  the  grand  stand,  reaching  westward  to  the  viaduct,  and  on  all  sides 
was  gathered  an  audience  such  as  will  probably  never  be  seen  again  within 
this  city.  It  has  been  estimated  that  this  audience  numbered  seventy  thousand 
people.  The  exercises  of  the  day  consisted  of  the  following  program  : 

Music — Innes  Band. 

Invocation — Rev.  John  McQuoid. 

Address — President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles. 

Address — President  William  McKinley. 

Music — Innes  Band. 

Address — Postmaster-General  Charles  Emory  Smith. 

Music — Innes  Band. 

(The  addresses  will  be  found  in  their  appropriate  place  in  Part  II.) 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  91 

At  the  close  of  these  exercises  an  informal  reception  was  held  and 
congratulations  were  extended  to  the  President  by  the  Exposition  officials 
and  other  prominent  guests  on  the  platform.  A  great  cheer  went  up  from  the 
immense  audience,  but  President  McKinley,  with  his  usual  thoughtfulness  for 
others,  suggested  to  President  Wattles  that  the  crowds  were  cheering  for 
General  Miles  and  other  distinguished  officers  who  had  not  participated  in 
the  program,  and,  at  his  suggestion.  General  Miles,  the  members  of  his 
Cabinet,  and  others,  were  called  out  and  introduced  to  the  enthusiastic  throng 
in  order  that  they,  his  associates,  might  share  the  honors  that,  he  said,  were 
due  to  them  as  much  as  to  himself.  His  delicate  thoughtfulness  for  the 
pleasure  of  others  was  here  manifested,  and  was  again  illustrated  when  he 
handed  to  President  Wattles  the  original  manuscript  from  which  he  had 
read  his  address,  as  a  souvenir  of  the  occasion. 

After  the  general  handshaking  and  cheering  at  the  grand  stand  had 
been  concluded,  the  ladies  were  escorted  to  the  carriages  and  departed  at 
once  for  the  executive  mansion  (Omaha  Club),  where  a  formal  luncheon 
had  been  prepared  in  anticipation  of  the  presence  of  Mrs.  McKinley. 
Unfortunately,  she  had  been  detained  by  the  death  of  her  brother  at  her  home 
in  Canton,  Ohio,  but  the  ladies  of  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  of  other  officials 
of  the  President's  party,  with  the  ladies  of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment, 
were  served.  This  luncheon  was  one  of  unusual  elegance.  The  rooms  of 
the  Club  were  filled  with  roses.  The  tables  were  arranged  in  the  form  of  a 
hgllowT  square.  The  luncheon  card  was  printed  on  white  satin  ribbon  attached 
to  heavy  cardboard,  and  ornamented  with  hand-painted  sketches.  The  menu 
was  as  follows : 

Grape  Fruit 
Consomme 

Frogs'  Legs  a  la  Poulettc 

Breast    of    Chicken 

Currant  Jelly 

Waldorf   Salad 

Neapolitan  Ice  Cream 

Assorted  Cake 

Small   Coffee. 

Mrs.  Clement  Chase,  Chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment,  presided. 
At  her  right  sat  the  wife  of  the  Chinese  Minister.  At  her  left  the  wife  of  the 
Corean  Minister.  Next  in  order  at  her  right  sat  Mrs.  H.  T.  Clark  and  Mrs. 
Lyman  J.  Gage,  and  at  her  left  Mrs.  Wattles  and  Mrs.  Charles  Emory  Smith. 
Seated  at  the  other  tables  were  Mrs.  Kirkendall,  Miss  Wilson,  Mrs.  Webster, 
Mrs.  Miles,  Mrs.  Summers,  Mrs.  Humphrey,  Mrs.  Manderson.  Mrs.  Moore, 
Mrs.  Babcock,  Mrs.  Miles,  Mrs.  Cowin,  Mrs.  Adams,  Mrs.  Lindsey,  Mrs. 
Richards,  Mrs.  Mendilken,  Mrs.  A.  Rosewater,  Mrs.  Baker,  Mrs.  Saunders, 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  93 

Mrs.  Wallace,  Mrs.  Dandy,  Mrs.  Humphrey,  Mrs.  Kountze,  Miss  Greely, 
Mrs.  D.  H.  Mercer,  Mrs.  E.  Rosewater,  Mrs.  Bills,  Mrs.  Nash,  Mrs.  Orr, 
Mrs.  Montgomery,  Mrs.  Dickinson,  Mrs.  Redick,  Mrs.  W.  V.  Allen,  Mrs. 
Hitchcock,  Mrs.  Greely,  Mrs.  Lyman,  Mrs.  Heistand,  Mrs.  Joslyn,  Mrs. 
Harris,  Mrs.  Bruce,  Mrs.  Holcomb,  Mrs.  McCord,  Mrs.  Trumbull,  Mrs.  Peck, 
Mrs.  Bidwell,  Mrs.  Ward,  Mrs.  Cox,  Mrs.  Creighton,  Mrs.  Reed,  Mrs.  Black, 
Mrs.  Yates,  Miss  Carr,  Mrs.  Dunn,  Mrs.  Martin,  Mrs.  Lininger,  Miss  Pierce, 
Mrs.  Metcalf,  Mrs.  McKelway,  Mrs.  Brady,  Mrs.  Newman,  Mrs.  Wakefield, 
Mrs.  Baldwin,  Mrs.  Harrison,  Mrs.  Shiverick,  Mrs.  W.  F.  Allen,  Mrs. 
Colpetzer,  Mrs.  Offut,  Mrs.  Reynolds,  Mrs.  Mackay,  Mrs.  Carter,  Mrs.  George 
Mercer,  Mrs.  Remington,  Mrs.  Wharton,  Mrs.  Connell,  Mrs.  Broatch.  Mrs. 
Cox,  Mrs.  Charlton,  Mrs.  Bierbower,  Mrs.  Wilhelm,  Mrs.  Brandeis,  Mrs. 
Poppleton,  Mrs.  Dietz,  Mrs.  Baum,  Mrs.  Squires,  Mrs.  Rogers. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  party  repaired  to  the  Markel  Cafe,  where  a  formal 
luncheon  was  served  to  them.  At  this  luncheon  no  toasts  were  given,  but 
the  health  of  the  President  was  pledged  by  all  present. 

The  program  of  the  day  had  been  arranged  with  the  special  plan  of 
.allowing  as  many  of  those  in  the  grounds  as  possible  the  privilege  of  seeing 
the  President  at  short  range.  The  soldiers  of  the  Second  Regiment  were 
formed  in  two  lines  around  the  Grand  Court,  through  the  center  aisles  of 
•each  of  the  main  buildings,  and  after  the  luncheon,  the  President,  escorted 
by  President  Wattles,  and  followed  by  the  other  officials  in  their  order, 
marched  between  these  lines  of  soldiers,  completely  around  the  Grand  Court, 
stopping  in  the  Government  building,  in  which  it  had  been  planned  to  hold  a 
public  reception.  The  Government  Commission  had  admitted  several  hundred 
officials  and  citizens  by  card,  and  after  these  had  been  presented  to  the  Presi- 
dent, it  soon  became  evident  that  it  would  be  impracticable  to  receive  the  gen- 
eral public,  as  the  President  was  weary  with  handshaking.  This  feature  of 
the  program  was  therefore  abandoned  and  the  party  proceeded  to  the  rooms  of 
the  Bureau  of  Entertainment  in  the  Palace  of  Mines  and  Mining,  where  a  short 
rest  was  enjoyed,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  ladies  from  the  Omaha  Club. 

Thousands  of  women  delegates  to  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  of  the 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  had  congregated,  and  by  special  appointment 
President  McKinley  and  President  Wattles  visited  for  a  few  moments  this 
gathering  of  the  representative  women  of  the  West.  President  McKinley  was 
introduced  and  spoke  a  few  words.  Carriages  were  then  taken  and  the  guests 
were  conveyed  through  the  Midway  and  over  the  north  viaduct  to  the  Indian 
Encampment.  Here  the  "Great  Father"  was  welcomed  by  the  Indian  tribes 
with  an  enthusiasm  and  in  a  manner  never  to  be  forgotten.  A  grand  parade 
of  the  many  tribes,  bedecked  in  costumes  peculiar  to  their  original  customs, 


94 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


was  led  past  the  reviewing  stand  by  Captain  Mercer,  who  had  the  Indian 
Congress  in  charge. 

Next  a  sham  battle  of  Indian  braves  was  fought,  which  was  made  so 
realistic  that  it  almost  seemed  to  be  a  re-enactment  of  one  of  the  bloody  battles 
in  earlier  times.  This  display  of  savage  life  was  much  enjoyed  by  the 
President  and  all  who  witnessed  it,  and  at  its  conclusion  many  of  the.  Indians 
gathered  near  the  exit  of  the  reviewing  stand  to  see,  and  if  might  be,  speak 


Grand  Court,  Looking  Southwest,  Night 

with  the  "Great  Father,"  whom  they  regarded  with  awe,  as  he  came  among 
them. 

After  the  close  of  this  feature  of  the  exercises  of  the  day,  the  President 
insisted  on  the  carriages  being  dismissed,  and  walked  back  to  the  cafe  where 
dinner  was  to  be  served.  The  way  led  past  the  livestock  exhibits,  and  many 
of  the  finest  animals  of  this  exhibit  were  displayed  with  great  pride  by  their 
owners  to  the  President  as  he  passed.  The  gay  throngs  on  the  Midway 
cheered  him,  the  old  soldiers  called  his  name  in  endearing  terms,  and  the 
journey  was  one  of  interest  and  pleasure,  with  no  single  word  of  discourtesy 
to  mar  a  day  filled  with  many  pleasing  events. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  95 

The  dinner  at  the  cafe  had  been  planned  with  great  care,  and  to  it  had 
been  invited  all  the  officers  of  the  Exposition,  the  Executive  Committee,  and 
the  full  Board  of  Directors.  Also  members  of  the  Government  Exposition 
Commission,  members  of  the  State  Commissions  and  numerous  prominent 
citizens.  The  long  tables  entirely  filled  the  north  cafe,  and  were  beautifully 
decorated  with  flowers.  The  menu  was  one  of  especial  elegance  and  design. 
A  reproduction  of  the  Government  building  appeared  on  the  first  page.  On 
the  second  page  was  lithographed 

PEACE   JUBILEE   DINNER 

IN  HONOR  OF 

THE   PRESIDENT   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 

THE  TRANS-MISSISSIPPI  AND  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION 

OMAHA 

Wednesday,  October  Twelfth,  1898. 

The  menu  proper  was  lithographed  over  a  scene  on  the  Exposition 
grounds,  which  formed  the  background,  and  was  as  follows : 

Blue  Points 

Celery 

Clear  Green  Turtle 

Olives  Radishes 

Planked  Whitefish,  with  fine  Herbs 

Dressed  Cucumbers 

Braised  Lamb  Chops 

Roast  Canvasback  Duck  with   Cresses 

Hominy  Champagne 

Lettuce  Salad 
Ice  Cream  in  Forms 

Cakes  Fruits 

Brie  Cheese  Crackers 

Coffee. 

President  Wattles  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table  with  President  McKiniey 
at  his  right.  The  members  of  the  President's  Cabinet  and  foreign  Ministers 
were  seated  on  either  side  according  to  rank.  The  dinner  was  faultlessly 
served.  No  formal  toasts  had  been  planned,  but  as  the  evening  was  too  cool 
to  carry  out  the  original  plan  of  a  gondola  excursion  on  the  Lagoon,  it  was 
suggested  that  an  hour  be  spent  in  listening  to  impromptu  speeches.  Toasts 
were  assigned  by  President  Wattles  at  President  McKinley's  suggestion,  as 
follows : 

''Our  Country" — St.  Clair  McKelway,  editor  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"From  War  to  Peace"— General  Nelson  A.  Miles. 

"Humanity" — Senator  John  M.  Thurston,  Nebraska. 

"The  Exposition" — General  Charles  F.  Manderson,  Omaha. 

"The  New  West" — Governor  Alva  Adams,  Colorado. 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  97 

After  the  responses,  which  were  exceptionally  interesting,  the  guests 
repaired  to  their  carriages  and  were  driven  around  the  Court  of  Honor,  and 
to  the  grounds  set  aside  for  the  display  of  fireworks  on  the  North  tract.  A 
magnificent  display  had  been  specially  prepared  for  this  occasion,  and  it  was 
greatly  enjoyed  by  the  President  and  his  party,  as  well  as  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  visitors  who  witnessed  it.  The  carriages  then  conveyed  the  distinguished 
guests  to  the  executive  mansion,  and  thus  closed  the  President's  day  at  the 
Exposition. 

The  President  had  planned  to  leave  the  City  of  St.  Louis  early  the 
following  morning,  and  without  ceremony  he  was  escorted  to  the  station.  A 
large  number  had  gathered  to  see  him  once  more  and  say  "good-bye."  Before 
leaving  the  club  house  he  had  written  a  note  to  General  Manderson,  the 
President  of  the  Club,  as  follows : 

Dear  General  Manderson: 

Before  1  go  permit  me  to  thank  you.  My  visit  to  Omaha  has  been  one  of  uncommon 
interest  and  pleasure.  Good-bye. 

October  13.  1898.  WILLIAM  MCKINLEY. 

The  President  expressed  to  President  Wattles  his  appreciation  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  been  entertained.  He  said : 

I  want  to  congratulate  Omaha  on  the  splendid  management  of  every  detail  of  my 
reception,  which  was  carried  out  most  satisfactorily  and  in  the  best  way  possible. 

As  his  train  was  about  to  start,  he  responded  to  the  cheer  of  the  crowd 
gathered  about  his  car  as  follows : 

I  thank  you  more-  than  words  can  tell  for  your  many  kindnesses  to  me  during  my  visit 
to  your  city  and  your  magnificent  Exposition.  My  visit  to  Omaha  and  to  the  Trans-Missis- 
sippi Exposition  is  one  that  I  shall  long  remember  with  the  kindliest  recollections.  What 
has  pleased  me  more  than  anything  else  on  my  entire  trip  is  to  witness  the  exhibitions  of 
patriotism  throughout  the  country.  I  am  glad  to  see  that  in  Nebraska,  as  through  the  whole 
land,  the  people  ever  love  good  government,  and  dearly  love  the  old  flag.  It  is  very  hard 
for  me  to  say  good-bye  to  Omaha ;  you  have  all  made  my  trip  so  delightful ;  but  I  must  say 
good-bye  now,  as  the  train  is  about  to  leave.  Again  I  thank  you. 

ARMY  AND  NAVY  DAY  — October  13,  1898 

The  fourth  day  of  Jubilee  week  was  dedicated  to  the  army  and  navy. 
After  the  departure  of  the  President  and  his  party,  the  officials  of  the  Exposi- 
tion repaired  to  the  hotels  and  with  carriage  escorted  General  Miles  and  staff, 
with  other  generals,  ministers  and  officials  who  were  to  participate  in  the 
celebration  of  Army  and  Navy  Day,  to  the  Exposition  grounds.  The 
exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m. 


98 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


The  program  was  as  follows : 

Music — By  Modoc  Glee  Club,  Topeka,  Kan.,  "Hail  Flag  of  the  Free." 

Welcome — Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb,   Nebraska. 

Address — Major-General  Nelson  A.  Miles. 

Music — Modoc  Glee  Club. 

Address — General  A.  W.  Greely. 

Address — Senor  Gonzales  de  Quesada,  Cuba. 

Address — Senator  William  V.  Allen,    Nebraska. 

(The  addresses  will  be  found  in  Part  II  of  this  history.) 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  exercises,  a  luncheon  was  served  to  the  dis- 
tinguished guests  at  the  Markel  Cafe,  after  which  the  guests  repaired  to  the 
grounds  of  the  Indian  encampment,  where  a  special  program  had  been 
arranged  in  honor  of  General  Miles.  He  had  long  been  known  as  one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  Civil  War  and  one  of  the  great  Indian  fighters  who  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  been  stationed  at  outlying  posts  on  the  frontier. 
It  was  General  Miles  who  captured  Geronimo,  the  famous  Apache  chief,  and 
negotiated  the  terms  of  surrender  of  the  Indian  warriors.  The  meeting  on 
the  grounds  between  the  General  and  this  famous  Indian  chief  was  affecting. 
Geronimo  clasped  his  arms  about  the  General  and  embraced  him  affectionately. 
After  this  episode.  General  Miles  pinned  a  peace  jubilee  badge  on  the  breast 
of  the  Indian  warrior,  who  expressed  thanks  in  broken  English. 

After  the  sham  battle,  then  in  progress,  was  conducted.  General  Miles 
and  the  Apache  chief  held  a  long  conference  through  an  interpreter,  no  doubt 
reminding  each  other  of  stirring  events  in  their  lives,  when  Geronimo  led  his 
warriors  against  the  whites  and  defied  them  in  many  sanguinary  contests. 


Flower  Day 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season 


99 


CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  DAY  — October  14,  1898 

The  fifth  day  of  Jubilee  week  was  dedicated  to  civil  government.  Great 
crowds  still  lingered  at  the  Exposition,  although  the  weather  had  turned  cold 
and  disagreeable,  and  the  Auditorium  was  well  filled  to  hear  the  interesting 
exercises  which  had  been  planned  in  celebration  of  this  day.  Brigadier-General 
William  R.  Shafter  and  staff  had  arrived  too  late  to  participate  in  the 


Theodore  Roosevelt 


celebration  of  Army  and  Navy  Day,  and  he  had  therefore  been  invited  to 
speak  on  this  occasion.  His  presence  lent  interest  to  the  event  and  thousands 
of  visitors  filled  the  Auditorium  to  overflowing  to  see  and  listen  to  this 
famous  warrior.  When  he  appeared  on  the  platform  in  full  uniform  he  was 
greeted  with  a  rousing  cheer. 


100 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


The  program  of  exercises  was  as  follows : 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

Invocation — Rev.  Newton  R.  Mann. 

Address — Brigadier-General   William   R.    Shafter. 

Address — Ass't  Secretary  of  War  George  D.  Meikeljohn. 

Music — Omaha  Concert  Band. 

Address — Chinese  Minister  Wu  Ting  Fang. 

Address — Cuban  Minister  Gonzales  de  Quesada. 

Address — Senator   John    M.    Thurston,    Nebraska. 

Music — "Star  Spangled   Banner,"  Omaha  Concert  Band. 

After  the  exercises  the  usual  luncheon  was  served  to  the  honored  guests 
in  the  Markel  Cafe  and  the  afternoon  and  evening  were  spent  in  witnessing 
the  sham  battle  in  the  Indian  encampment  grounds,  the  fireworks  and  other 
special  attractions. 

CHILDREN'S  DAY  — October  15,  1898 

The  sixth  and  last  day  of  Jubilee  week  was  dedicated  to  the  children. 
A  low  admission  fee  had  been  fixed  for  the  children  on  this  day,  and  they 
came  by  thousands  from  the  city  and  surrounding  country  to  participate  in 
the  exercises.  No  formal  exercises  were  held,  but  they  sang  patriotic  songs, 


Girls'  and  Boys'  Building 


Historic  Events  of  the  Exposition  Season  101 

with  the  accompaniment  of  Innes'  band,  in  the  afternoon  on  the  Grand  Plaza, 
and  spent  the  day  as  only  children  can,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  many  interesting 
amusements  throughout  the  Midway,  on  the  Lagoon  and  in  the  Exhibit 
buildings. 

This  closed  the  most  successful  week,  in  point  of  attendance  and  inter- 
esting ceremonies,  of  all  the  Exposition  period.  The  total  attendance  for  the 
week  was  294,344. 

Following  Jubilee  week  the  special  days  until  the  close  of  the  Exposition 
period  were  as  follows  : 

German  Day,  October  18;  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  Day, 
October  18;  Nebraska  Day,  October  19;  Utah  Day,  October  20;  Railroad 
Week,  October  23  to  29,  inclusive;  Tri-City  Day,  October  26;  and  then  came 
the  last  of  the  great  days.  • 

OMAHA  DAY— October  31,  1898 

The  success  of  the  Exposition  from  every  standpoint  had  become  an 
established  fact.  Anxiety  had  given  place  to  realization,  and  with  it  that 
comforting  peace  which  is  the  reward  of  success  as  the  result  of  untiring  effort. 
Much  pressure  had  been  brought  to  bear  upon  the  management  to  continue  the 
Exposition  beyond  the  date  fixed  in  the  original  plans,  but  the  same  wise 
judgment  that  had  carried  the  creation  of  the  great  undertaking  to  completion, 
so  that  the  gates  were  thrown  open  on  the  appointed  day,  and  at  the  appointed 
hour,  and  had  made  the  Exposition  period  the  unparalleled  success  in  every 
detail  and  feature  that  it  had  now  become,  prevailed.  The  gates  were  closed 
for  the  last,  time  upon  the  appointed  day  and  hour,  which  was  at  the  last 
moment  at  midnight  October  31,  1898.  The  day  was  dedicated  to  Omaha, 
and  like  the  opening  day  it  was  ushered  in  by  a  matchless  Western  sunrise; 
another  typical  Nebraska  autumn  clay,  with  faultless  sky,  and  balmy,  invig- 
orating air. 

Every  effort  had  been  put  forth  to  make  of  it  a  fitting  termination  of  an 
historic  period  in  the  life  of  the  city.  The  Mayor  had  issued  a  proclamation, 
reciting  the  many  benefits  that  Omaha  had  received  from  the  Exposition, 
praising  its  management,  and  declaring  Omaha  Day  an  official  holiday.  He 
urged  all  places  of  business  to  close,  and  every  citizen  to  attend  the  Exposition 
that  day.  The  Board  of  Education  ordered  the  schools  closed,  the  Com- 
mercial Club  and  labor  organizations  urged  the  merchants  and  tradesmen 
to  participate  in  a  universal  celebration  of  this  holiday,  and  every  citizen  of 
Omaha  seemed  to  take  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  working  for  the  . 
success  of  this  day.  Proprietors  of  many  of  the  large  stores  distributed  tickets 
of  admission  among  their  employes,  and  charitable  citizens  distributed 


102 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


hundreds  of  tickets  to  the  poor  of  the  city  through  the  assistance  of  the 
Associated  Charities. 

The  exercises  of  the  day  took  place  at  the  Auditorium  at  three  o'clock 
The  program  was  as  follows : 


m. 

Music — Junes  Band. 
Invocation — Rev.  T.  J.  Mackay. 
Address — Mayor  Frank  E.  Moores. 
Address — Manager    Z.    T.    Lindsey.    Ways 
and  Means  Department. 


Music — Innes  Band. 

Address — Manager     Edward     Rosevvater, 

Publicity  and   Promotion   Department. 
Address — President  Wattles. 
Music — Innes  Band. 


(The  addresses  will  be  found  in  Part  II  of  this  history.) 

After  the  exercises  a  banquet  was  served  in  the  cafe  to  the  officers  of  the 
Exposition,  city  and  county  officials,  members  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Commercial  Club,  the  Board  of  Governors 
of  the  Knights  of  Ak-Sar-Ben,  and  many  other  prominent  citizens  of  Omaha 
who  had  all  lent  their  aid  to  the  success  of  the  Exposition.  Many  toasts  were 
responded  to  by  the  guests  of  the  officers  of  the  Exposition.  Words  of  praise 
of  their  efforts  were  spoken  with  regrets  that  the  beautiful  White  City,  with 
all  its  enchantment,  was  so  soon  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 

In  the  evening,  a  grand  spectacular  display  of  fireworks  was  given  and 
witnessed  by  many  thousands,  after  which  a  Grand  Carnival  on  the  Streets 
of  the  Midway  was  held.  At  twelve  o'clock,  midnight,  the  myriad  electric 
lights  were  turned  off  for  the  last  time,  and  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  Interna- 
tional Exposition  had  passed  into  history. 


Flower  Day 


^ARCHITECTURALLY,  the  Trans-Mississippi  Expo- 
sition was  a  magnificent  success.  After  all  of  its 
brilliant  features  shall  have  faded  from  the  memory 
of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and  women  who  witnessed 
them,  the  matchless  beauty  of  its  architecture  will  remain  as 
an  ineffaceable  picture,  never  to  be  forgotten.  Its  appeal  to  the 
popular  imagination  was  stronger  than  that  of  any  other  creation 
among  the  manifold  attractions  of  a  great  exposition,  and  its 
splendid  artistic  effects  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  the  people. 
The  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  had  the  unique  quality  of 
being  a  complete  artistic  whole.  From  its  conception  until  its 
achievement  there  was  a  consistent  idea  present,  which  was  accom- 
*]]  plished  without  serious  omissions,  and  of  which  the  general  effect 
was  so  focused  that  it  was  readily  comprehended  and  did  not  weary 
by  complexity  of  plan  or  of  composition  or  detail.  Nor  on  the  other 
hand  did  it  show  any  lack  of  variety,  nor  of  both  general  and  individual  study 
of  the  buildings  and  their  environment.  There  was  everywhere  evidence  of 
the  adaptation  of  the  general  scheme  to  the  site,  of  study  of  proportions 
of  the  buildings  to  each  other  and  of  their  relation  to  the  ground 
immediately  around  them.  No  detail,  from  that  of  relative  proportions  of 
masses  to  the  lines  of  balustrades  and  even  to  the  distribution  of  the  colors  in 
the  bannerettes,  was  overlooked,  and  the  final  result  justified  the  care  bestowed 
upon  the  problem.  In  expenditure  and  in  size,  this  Exposition  could  not  com- 
pete with  that  of  Chicago  in  1893,  an^  whatever  individual  character  it  could 
expect  to  have  was  necessarily  that  of  distinction.  Considerations  of  economy 
forbade  the  use  of  color  decoration.  Distinction  was  secured,  however,  through 
simplicity  of  treatment  and  by  harmony  of  form  throughout.  In  its  inception, 
it  was  recognized  that  a  general  type  of  architecture  must  be  maintained,  a 


106 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


general  color  demanded,  and  a  general  scale  required.  None  of  these  essen- 
tials was  new  in  idea,  as  they  were  an  expression  of  natural  common  sense  in 
designing  a  scheme  for  a  correlated  group  of  buildings. 

But  there  were  two  factors  in  the  design  of  the  main  court  of  the  Omaha 
Exposition  which  were  new,  and  have  not  been  insisted  upon  elsewhere.  First, 
the  requirement  that  all  towers  and  vertical  motives  should  be  placed  only 
where  they  were  indicated  upon  the  general  plan,  and  that  but  one  prominent 
dome  should  be  permitted,  which  should  be  placed  at  the  termination  of  the 
longest  vista ;  and  second,  that  as  far  as  possible,  no  portion  of  the  private 
buildings  or  grounds  outside  the  main  court  of  the  Exposition  should  be  seen 
from  that  court.  For  this  purpose  all  the  Exposition  buildings  upon  the  main 
court  were  connected  with  colonnades  back  of  which  were  screens  of  trees. 


T.   R.  Kimball 


ARCHITECTS  IN  CHIEF 


and  the  court  became  a  vast  cloister  isolated  from  all  incongruous  elements  of 
architecture.  Often  in  the  last  decade,  the  praise  has  been  heard  for  this 
Exposition  that  it  seemed  the  most  perfect  as  a  whole  of  any  of  the  expositions 
of  the  past. 

In  some  respects  this  was  clue  to  the  site.  The  main  court — one-half 
mile  (or  more)  in  length — rose  slightly  from  west  to  east,  and  had  a  lagoon 
upon  its  long  axis  which  spread  into  a  large  basin  almost  level  with  its  surface 
at  the  west,  and  lay  between  the  high  banks  of  terraces  and  steps  at  the  east, 
which  rose  to  a  bridge  spanning  Sherman  Avenue  and  leading  to  the  concourse 
for  addresses,  etc.,  and  to  the  more  informal  portion  of  the  Exposition  grounds, 
At  the  western  end  of  the  great  court,  the  long  faqade  of  the  Government 
building  was  reflected  in  the  basin,  which  was  surrounded  by  colonnades  sug- 
gestive of  the  approaches  to  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  by  Bernini.  Above  rose 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations  107 

die  one  great  dome  in  the  Exposition,  admirably  proportioned,  completing  the 
vista  in  this  direction.  At  the  east  the  terraces  clustered,  and  the  entrance  to 
the  bridge  was  flanked  by  two  high  towers  above  the  restaurants.  The  view 
of  the  court  from  the  terrace  looking  westward  was  very  beautiful  and  gave 
a  thoroughly  comprehensive  idea  of  the  general  Exposition  plan.  At  the  left 
and  south  was  the  Mines  building  by  S.  S.  Beman,  of  Chicago,  with  Greek 
Ionic  detail.  A  garden  with  peristyles  and  statues  connected  this  building 


Statuary  near  Machinery  Hall 

with  the  Liberal  Arts  building  by  Messrs.  Fisher  &  Lawrie,  of  Omaha,  which 
had  the  charm  of  the  best  type  of  sixteenth  century  French  Renaissance. 
Opposite  the  Mines  building,  on  the  north  of  the  lagoon,  was  the  Machinery 
and  Electricity  building  by  D wight  Heald  Perkins,  of  Chicago,  with 
characteristic  detail;  while  opposite  the  Liberal  Arts  was  the  building  for 
Manufactures  by  J.  J.  Humphreys,  of  Denver.  These  four  buildings  with  their 
connecting  colonnades  completed  the  end  of  the  court  east  of  the  central  cross 
axis.  Upon  this  short  axis  was  the  main  bridge  crossing  the  lagoon,  a  double 
bridge  with  a  balustraded  island  in  the  center.  At  the  south  of  this  axis  was 
the  main  entrance  arch  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States,  its  frieze  formed  by 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


ioy 


a  double  row  of  the  coats-of-arms  of  the  States  in  color.  Opposite  on  the 
north  end  of  the  axis  was  the  Administration  building,  in  the  form  of  an  arch 
with  a  hall  above  and  a  high  roof  and  lantern,  somewhat  resembling  the 
arched  gateways  of  medieval  towns,  but  with  classic  detail.  Both  of  these 
arches,  as  well  as  all  the  accessory  architecture  of  the  Exposition,  the  lagoon, 
the  terraces,  balustrades,  peristyles,  colonnades,  etc.,  and  the  two  large  restau- 
rant buildings  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  court,  were  designed  by  Messrs. 
Walker  and  Kimball,  Architects-in-Chief  of  the  Exposition.  Beyond  the 
central  cross  axis  to  the  west,  on  either  side  of  the  lagoon,  were  two  of  the 
most  important  buildings  on  the  grounds — to  the  north  the  Agricultural 
building  by  Cass  Gilbert,  of  St.  Paul  and  New  York ;  to  the  south  the  Fine  Arts 
building  by  Messrs.  Eames  and 
Young,  of  St.  Louis.  Both  in  pro- 
portions and  details  these  buildings 
compare  favorably  with  the  archi- 
tectural creations  of  any  exposition. 
All  the  buildings  in  the  main  court, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Art  build- 
ing, were  designed  according  to 
definite  dimensions  and  instructions 
supplied  by  the  architects-in-chief, 
which  were  as  follows : 

All  buildings  should  be  of 
simple  classic  or  Renaissance  style, 
without  excess  of  ornament.  The 
height  of  the  order  to  the  top  of  the 
entablature  was  determined.  There 
should  be  no  towers.  Each  building  should  have  a  dominant  central  pavilion 
and  subordinate  corner  pavilions,  and  the  colonnades,  arcades,  or  subdivisions 
of  spaces  between  the  pavilions  should  be  absolute  repeats  of  a  uniform  scale, 
said  scale  being  stated.  The  buildings  should  all  be  ivory  white,  and  the  roofs 
of  a  uniform  shade  of  gray  green. 

As  a  result,  while  there  was  great  variety  in  conception  and  in  minor 
details,  the  buildings  were  harmonious,  not  alone  in  one  factor,  but  in  all  the 
following  factors — style,  color,  scale,  height,  and  general  mass.  In  no  other 
exposition  have  instructions  been  so  strenuous,  style  and  height  being  the  only 
conditions  usually  imposed;  and  in  consequence,  all  other  expositions  have 
suffered  from  the  exploitation  of  the  eccentricities  of  individual  architects. 
The  Art  Palace  was  a  double  building  with  a  cloistered  court  between  its  two 
portions.  This  was  caused  by  the  logical  separation  of  painting  and  sculp- 
ture. In  all  other  respects  it  conformed  to  the  instructions.  Three  exceptions 


Ceres 


110  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

were  made  in  the  buildings  in  the  grand  court,  all  of  which  were  to  accent 
main  axes.  The  Government  building  at  the  west  end  had,  as  requested,  a 
dome  accentuating  that  end.  The  Restaurant  building  at  the  east  end  had  two 
identical  towers  to  balance  the  Government  dome  and  accent  the  bridge 
entrance;  and  the  Administration  building  had  a  high  roof  and  lantern  to  accent 
the  entrance  to  the  long  avenue  at  right  angles  to  the  main  court — a  con- 
tinuation of  the  cross  axis,  on  either  of  which  were  the  secondary  build- 
ings for  Transportation,  Dairy,  Apiary,  etc.  These  buildings  were  designed 
in  a  simple  style,  distinct  from  all  others,  being  half  timber  and  plaster  build- 
ings with  heavy  projecting  eaves.  One  important  building  alone  was  on  the 
tract  across  the  bridge  and  south  of  the  concourse — the  Horticultural  building 
in  the  midst  of  its  gardens  and  fountains,  by  Chas.  Beindorff,  of  Omaha.  This 
building,  being  isolated,  had  no  restrictions  placed  upon  it  excepting  as  to 
style  of  architecture  and  color,  and  had  many  picturesque  pinnacles. 

On  either  side  of  the  gardens  of  the  Horticultural  Hall  were  the  State 
buildings — of  the  usual  various  characters  and  merits.  North  from  the  con- 
course stretched  the  Midway,  which  turned  to  the  west  and  joined  the  northerly 
end  of  the  cross  avenue.  The  general  effect  of  the  Exposition,  as  may  be 
readily  seen,  wras  simple,  easily  comprehended,  and  thoroughly  complete. 
The  views  were  very  beautiful,  as  the  light  and  shade  on  the  gardens  connecting 
the  white  masses  of  the  buildings  gave  delightful  contrast  and  detail ;  and  the 
absence  of  arid  spaces  and  the  constant  presence  of  shaded  ways  between  the 
buildings  were  very  grateful  to  those  walking  through  the  grounds.  Xor 
should  the  sculpture  be  omitted  in  an  appreciation  of  the  whole.  There  were 
no  monumental  and  sensational  groups,  and  most  of  the  sculpture  was 
associated  with  the  architecture,  and  was  in  pediments  or  over  openings,  or 
as  single  figures  upon  the  posts  of  balustrades;  but  it  was  admirable  in  scale 
and  gave  the  charm  of  statues  half  hidden  in  the  foliage  of  English  gardens 
or  of  Italian  villas.  In  no  exposition  has  sculpture  been  so  little  ostentatious; 
and  in  no  exposition  has  it  been  so  thoroughly  in  harmony  with  its  sur- 
roundings. 

In  the  lighting  of  the  Exposition  the  skill  of  Luther  Stieringer  and 
his  able  assistant,  Henry  Rustin,  was  apparent.  Stieringer's  ingenuity  and 
conception  of  light-effects  were  very  exceptional.  He  thoroughly  appreciated 
the  advantage  of  maintaining  the  effect  of  perspective  by  eliminating  all  verti- 
cal lines  of  light,  and  the  beauty  of  reflected  light  from  surfaces,  its  sources 
being  concealed.  The  charm  of  the  delicate  lighting  of  the  grand  court  when 
seen  from  the  terraces  has  not  been  surpassed. 

The  landscape  work  of  Rudolph  Ulrich,  who  seemed  to  possess  the  magic 
of  an  Indian  fakir  in  the  rapidity  with  which  he  obtained  effects  and  made 
foliage  grow,  was  of  admirable  merit.  To  him  was  due  the  "planting-out"  of 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


111 


all  unsightly  things,  both  within  and  without  the  grounds,  even  blemishes 
being  transmuted  into  beauty>-spots  by  his  intelligent  handling.  He  took  great 
pride  in  the  flourishing  appearance  of  the  sod  everywhere,  which  he  coaxed 
along  with  wonderful  speed  and  success.  He  laid  out  and  constructed  the 
walks  and  drives  of  the  Exposition — details  no  less  essential  to  its  perfection, 
if  less  imposing,  than  the  finest  structure  within  its  walls. 

In  fact,  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  maintained  in  all  its  artistic 
expression  a  standard  which  appealed  irresistibly  to  the  most  exacting  of  its 
visitors.  This  result  was  primarily  due  to  the  high  artistic  standard  set  by 
Messrs.  Walker  and  Kimball,  architects-in-chief,  and  carefully  maintained  by 
them  and  their  associates  in  every  detail  of  architectural  design.  The  respon- 
sibility for  success  or  failure  rested  upon  the  architects-in-chief,  and  if  their 
original  conception  of  the  general  plan  of  a  completed  architectural  whole  had 
proved  abortive,  these  two  men  would  have  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  adverse 
criticism  and  consequent  hurt  to  professional  reputation.  This  being  true,  they 
were,  on  the  other  hand,  entitled  to  receive  and  did  receive  unstinted  praise 
for  their  great  achievement,  which  earned  for  them  recognition  in  eminent 
degree  and  gave  them  place  among  the  foremost  architects  of  the  nation. 


Court  of  Fine  Arts  Building 


112  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


THE    BUILDINGS 


THE  U.  S.  GOVERNMENT  BUILDING 

This,  the  building  of  first  importance  and  dignity,  was  all  that  it  should 
be — a  fine  example  of  symmetry  and  perfect  outline,  a  contribution  to  archi- 
tectural art  worthy  of  the  nation.  Its  first  suggestion  to  the  eye  of  the  visitor 
was  a  hint  of  the  national  capitol,  while  from  another  point  of  view  there 
were  slight  reminders  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome.  Standing  at  the  west  end  of  the 
grounds,  this  massive  Ionic  pile  dominated  a  group  of  buildings  whose  beauty 
has  never  been  exceeded.  It  was  planned  in  three  sections,  that  at  the  center 
having  a  frontage  on  the  lake  of  two  hundred  and  eight  feet,  its  depth  being 
fifty  feet.  The  main  entrance,  facing  the  basin,  was  reached  by  a  broad  flight 
of  steps  and  through  a  colonnade,  and  was  flanked  on  either  side  by  richly 
decorated  pavilions.  The  central  building  rose  to  a  colossal  dome,  towering 
far  above  all  other  structures  and  surmounted  by  a  figure  of  "Liberty  Enlight- 
ening the  World" — a  reproduction  of  Bartholdi's  famous  statue.  At  night  the 
figure  was  illuminated,  its  head  crowned  with  an  electric  tiara,  and  the  torch 
in  its  hand  a  search-light  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  feet  above  the 
ground. 

The  side  sections,  connecting  by  colonnades  with  the  Agricultural  build- 
ing, had  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  feet  and  were  forty-eight  feet  high  to 
top  of  balustrade.  The  total  length  of  the  building  was  five  hundred  and  four 
feet;  its  height  at  pinnacle  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight.  The  floor  space, 
devoted  to  exhibits,  approximated  fifty  thousand  square  feet. 

The  Government  building  was  produced  in  the  office  of  the  Supervising 
Architect  of  the  Treasury  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  earliest  sketches  were 
made  by  Geo.  O.  Totten,  Jr.,  under  the  supervision  of  Win.  Martin  Aiken, 
then  Supervising  Architect.  These  were  carefully  revised  and  the  whole 
carried  to  completion  in  the  ablest  manner  possible  by  Edward  A.  Crane,  of 
Philadelphia,  the  building  being  erected  partly  during  the  rule  of  Acting 
Supervising  Architect  Kemper  and  finally  completed  under  the  supervision 
of  James  Knox  Taylor,  the  present  incumbent,  who  practically  inaugurated 
with  this  building  his  masterly  revolution  of  the  Supervising  Architect's  office, 
its  methods  and  its  product.  The  colossal  statue  of  the  Republic  surmounting 
the  dome  formed  the  very  pinnacle  of  the  whole  composition,  and  was  by  the 
well-known  sculptor,  James  F.  Early. 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


113 


Main  Entrance,  Agriculture  Building 

THE  AGRICULTURE  BUILDING 

West  of  the  Twentieth  Street  axis  of  the  Kountze  tract  and  facing  south 
on  the  lagoon,  was  this  building  located.  Its  architecture  "free  Renaissance," 
its  details  were  conventional  in  proportion  and  arrangement,  but  natural  in 
subject  and  all  suggestive  of  the  building's  purpose.  Corn  and  wheat,  garlands 
and  cornucopias  of  vegetables,  fruits  and  flowers  composed  its  capitals.  In 
one  of  its  most  conspicuous  friezes  the  strutting  turkey-cock  with  outspread 
tail  was  very  effectively  used  to  replace  the  classic  antlicinion. 

The  richness  of  effect  which  results  from  a  lavish  use  of  such  natural 
ornament  was,  in  the  scheme  of  the  designer,  to  have  been  enhanced  by  the 
profuse  employment  of  color.  In  mass  the  building  should  conform  to  the 
general  "old  ivory"  tone  of  its  companions;  but  in  its  decoration  the  tints  of 
nature  were  to  be  copied — as  the  yellow  of  corn,  purple  of  grapes,  red  of 
apples  and  green  of  foliage.  The  central  niche  was  to  blaze  with  color,  and 
on  either  side  of  the  doorway  should  have  been  reproduced  great  paintings, 
the  "Sower"  and  "Reaper"  of  Millet.  This  additional  beauty  was  lost  to  the 
building  through  the  prudence  of  the  financial  management,  ever  listening  to 
the  warning  voice  of  Economy. 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


115 


Cass  Gilbert 


The  structure  was  something  over  four  hundred  feet  long  by  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  wide,  and  averaged  fifty  feet  high.  The  main  entrance 
was  a  hemicycle  in  plan,  surmounted  by  a  circular  niche;  smaller  doors  pierced 
the  stylobate  at  intervals  along  the  whole  front.  The  ends  had  triple  doors 
with  loggias  above.  A  single  order  of  architecture  surmounted  the  stylobate, 
crowned  with  an  entablature  that  was  elaborate  even  for  the  Corinthian  style. 
The  monotony  of  the  skyline  was  relieved  by 
statuary  representing  the  seasons,  and  domi- 
nated by  a  fine  group — "Prosperity"  supported 
by  "Labor"  and  "Integrity."  Over  the  main 
entrance  a  statue  of  "Abundance"  was  flanked 
bv  lesser  figures  and  the  arms  of  State  and 

^  o 

nation.  The  sculptured  subjects  included  the 
"Signs  of  the  Zodiac,"  the  "Favorable  Winds" 
and  the  "Seasons;"  and  panels  and  friezes  every- 
where bore  names  of  patrons  of  agriculture, 
inventors,  and  appropriate  inscriptions. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  exposition  has  ever 
given  its  agricultural  show  as  beautiful  and 
elaborate  a  setting  as  this.  For  its  design  the 
Exposition  was  indebted  to  Cass  Gilbert,  then  of 
St.  Paul,  now  President  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects,  and  one 
of  the  leading  architects  of  the  country.  The  Minnesota  State  Capitol  and 
the  U.  S.  Custom  House  at  New  York,  two  of  the  most  notable  architectural 
works  of  modern  times,  are  by  Cass  Gilbert.  Franz  Engelsmann  of  St.  Louis 
was  the  sculptor  of  the  Agriculture  building.  His  work  on  this  building 
was  full  of  his  own  characteristic  charm  and  sympathy,  and  contributed 
not  a  little  to  its  artistic  success. 

THE  ADMINISTRATION   BUILDING 

This  structure,  one  of  the  most  distinctive  and  original  in  the  Exposition, 
combining  as  it  did  the  "triumphal-arch"  effect  with  the  practical  uses  of  an 
ordinary  building,  served  as  general  headquarters  for  Exposition  officers  and 
for  the  reception  of  distinguished  visitors,  and  also  as  a  finishing  touch  to  the 
ensemble  of  the  Court  of  Honor.  Its  design  was  "free  classic,"  though  more 
influenced  by  French  Renaissance  than  any  other  of  the  main  buildings. 

It  measured  fifty  by  fifty  feet  on  the  ground,  and  was  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  height — nearly  as  tall  as  the  Government  building — and  formed 
the  central  feature  of  the  group  facing  the  lagoon.  In  general  effect  it  was  a 
solid,  rectangular  mass  with  four  square  pavilions,  surmounted  by  a  high- 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


117 


hipped  French  roof  and  lantern.  To  heighten  the  architectural  effect,  statuary 
of  heroic  size  was  used  above  the  cornice.  On  each  of  the  corner  pavilions 
were  emblematic  figures,  and  at  the  center  of  the  lagoon  front  was  a  group 
symbolizing  "Administration."  Between  the  roof  and  the  main  cornice  an 
open  space  was  left  for  a  point  of  observation,  being  well  above  the  level 
of  other  roofs.  The  arch  was  designed  by  Messrs.  Walker  and  Kimball,  of 
Boston  and  Omaha.  The  sculpture  was  by  Walter  Mettler  of  Chicago. 

THE   MANUFACTURES  BUILDING 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Administration  building  from  "Agriculture" 
stood  the  Manufactures  building.  "Manufactures"  and  "Agriculture"  were 
twins  in  size  and  general  form,  and  the  largest  of  the  main  court  buildings, 
therefore  next  in  natural  sequence  to  describe.  It  was  a  vigorous  design  in 
Roman  Doric,  full  of  dignity  and  repose.  Its  four-hundred-foot  front  was 
broken  at  center  and  ends  by  very  orderly  and  well-handled  pavilions. 
The  order  proper  stood  thirty  feet  high,  above  and  on  a  ten-foot  stylobate. 
The  center  pavilion  was  eighty-five  feet  high  to  the  top  of  its  crowning 
group.  The  end  pavilions  were  forty  feet  square,  and  sixtyrfive  feet  high  to 
the  finials  that  terminated  their  domical  roofs.  A  particularly  light  interior 
resulted  from  the  very  open  intercolumniation  of  the  screen  of  columns  that 
embellished  the  main  fagade,  leaving  nearly  the  whole  sixteen-foot  module 
for  glass.  The  entablature  was  broken  over  and  around  the  columns  of  this 
screen,  producing  to  a  marked  degree  the  dramatic  effect  that  always  results 
from  receding  and  overhanging  planes,  recalling, 
as  it  does,  the  setting  of  theatrical  scenery.  The 
main  entrance,  through  the  central  pavilion 
from  the  south,  presented  a  twenty-four-foot 
arch,  thirty-five  feet  high,  screening  an 
extremely  rich  rectangular  entry  or  vestibule. 
Double  flanking  columns  served  to  accent  more 
strongly  this  particularly  successful  central  fea- 
ture. A  broken  stylobate  furnished  many 
resulting  pedestals  for  the  excellent  statuary 
with  which  this  building  was  lavishly  adorned. 
An  army  of  well-proportioned  ornamental 
standards  flew  the  complete  gamut  of  bunting 
whenever  the  main  court  was  on  dress  parade. 
The  late  John  J.  Humphreys  of  Denver  was  the 
architect.  Humphreys  was  one  of  Denver's  famous  architectural  colony, 
perhaps  that  city's  most  valued  asset,  even  if  owed  chiefly  to  considerations 


J.  J.  Humphreys 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


119 


of  climate.  In  his  untimely  death  the  profession  lost  one  of  its  masters, 
and  a  host  of  warm  admirers  one  of  their  most  esteemed  confreres.  At  Mr. 
Humphreys'  suggestion  Walter  Mettler,  of  Chicago,  was  appointed  sculptor 
of  the  Manufactures  building.  The  wisdom  of  the  choice  was  fully  borne 
out  by  the  high  artistic  standard  attained  in  the  work  itself. 

THE   MACHINERY   AND   ELECTRICITY   BUILDING 

The  home  of  Machinery  and  Electricity  was  in  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  Grand  Court,  east  of  the  Manufactures  building  and  across  the  lagoon 
from  the  Mines  building.  Its 
design  had  been  governed  by 
general  conditions  requiring 
harmony  with  the  surround- 
ing group,  whose  prevalent 
feeling  was  of  modern 
Renaissance. 

Its  frontage  was  three 
hundred  and  four  feet,  its 
depth  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four.  There  were  triple 
entrances  on  the  first-floor 
level  in  the  center  of  the 
main  front,  and  similar  ones 
in  the  centers  of  east  and 
west  fronts,  with  four  emer- 
gency exits  in  the  north  wall. 
Flanking  both  sides  of  the 
main  entrance  was  an  open 
portico  sixteen  feet  wide, 
running  the  entire  length 
of  the  facade.  The  central 
entrance  feature  projected 
beyond  the  portico,  thus 

forming  the  grand   Vestibule.  Entrance,  Machinery  and  Electricity  Building 

The  main  floor  covered  the  entire  area  of  the  building.  Above  was  a  gallery 
thirty-two  feet  wide,  extending  around  the  four  outer  walls,  and  reached  by 
spacious  stairways  located  in  opposite  corners  of  the  front.  This  left  a  high 
central  court  two  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet  long  by  eighty  feet  wide, 
lighted  from  the  skylights  and  clerestory  windows  above  the  roof. 


120 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


The  character  of  the  exhibits  here  sheltered  was  indicated  by  the 
decoration.  The  ornamental  spandrels  and  panels  received  all  of  their  motifs 
from  machinery;  the  cresting  at  the  top  was 
formed  of  cogwheels,  this  idea  being  carried  out 
in  all  the  decorations.  The  underlying  principle 
and  function  of  machinery  were  symbolized  by 
the  statuary  on  the  summit  of  the  building.  At 
each  of  the  four  corners  were  groups  represent- 
ing the  early  supremacy  of  Man  over  the 
untamed  forces  of  Nature.  Complete  supremacy 
was  show7n  by  the  central  group,  in  which  the 
entire  sculptural  design  culminated.  In  this, 
Man  developed  beyond  the  youthful  stage, 
having  acquired  wisdom,  takes  these  same 
untamed  forces  of  Nature  and  harnesses  them 
to  his  chariot,  making  them  do  his  bidding — 
thus  symbolizing  the  services  of  machinery  to 
man  in  utilizing  the  power  of  steam,  fire,  electricity  and  gravity. 

The  designer  of  this  building  was  Dwight  Heald  Perkins,  of  Chicago, 
President  of  the  Illinois  Chapter  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects. 
The 'sculptor  appointed  by  Architect  Perkins  was  Richard  W.  Bock,  of 
Chicago,  and  to  him  is  owed  the  wonderfully  interesting  and  successful 
handling  of  the  sculpture  adornment  of  this  building. 


Dwight  H.  Perkins 


THE  BOYS'  AND  GIRLS'  BUILDING 

This  was  of  unusual  and  pleasing  design,  the  ground  plan  being  in  form 
of  the  letter  "T,"  the  stem  of  the  letter  forming  the  rear  portion  of  the 
building.  The  main  portion  was  one  hundred  feet  in  width  and  fifty  feet  in 
depth.  The  stem  ran  back  fifty  feet. 

The  building  was  well  proportioned,  but  no  attempt  was  made  at 
elaboration.  It  was  a  one-story  structure,  with  central  clerestory.  This 
arrangement  gave  plenty  of  room  on  the  flat  roof,  which  was  utilized  for  a 
roof-garden  and  restaurant.  Across  the  front  of  the  main  portion  of  the 
building  extended  a  broad  portico  with  tall  columns,  and  from  this,  entrance 
was  had  to  a  large  hall,  fifty  by  fifty  feet,  with  a  dais  at  one  side  for 
speaking,  entertainments,  etc.  High  up  under  the  clerestory  was  a  wide 
balcony  commanding  a  full  view  of  this  great  room,  with  stairs  leading  to  it 
from  two  sides.  In  each  corner  of  the  main  portion  was  a  room  twenty-five 
by  nineteen  feet  in  size.  One  of  these  was  set  apart  for  the  girls,  and  another 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations  121 

for  the  boys;  the  mothers  had  the  use  of  a  third,  and  a  fourth  was  devoted 
to  the  exhibit  of  a  model  nursery.  The  rear  portion,  or  stem  of  the  T,  was 
arranged  for  the  purposes  of  a  creche,  where  children  were  cared  for  while 
their  mothers  enjoyed  the  sights  of  the  Exposition.  The  room  was  fifty  by 
fifty  feet  in  size,  and  was  fitted  with  every  convenience  for  tending  the  little 
ones.  In  one  of  the  ells  was  constructed  a  shallow  pond,  where  the  children 
could  wade  and  paddle  to  their  heart's  content,  under  the  eye  of  a  watchful 
attendant.  In  the  other  ell  were  a  number  of  sand  piles,  also  for  purposes 
of  amusement.  A  feature  of  the  exterior  decoration  was  a  handsome  balus- 
trade extending  around  the  cornice.  This  was  surmounted  by  figures  of 
cherubs  upholding  staffs,  from  which  floated  appropriate  banners. 
The  building  was  designed  by  Walker  &  Kimball. 

THE   AUDITORIUM 

The  Auditorium  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  basin,  just  east  of  the  Mines 
and  Mining  building,  and  occupied  a  space  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  by 
two  hundred  and  forty-six  feet.  There  were  two  principal  entrances,  one  on 
the  east  and  the  other  on  the  north  side.  The  interior  was  planned  after  the 
manner  of  a  Greek  theater,  with  seats  in  a  semicircle,  facing  south.  The 
main  floor  had  a  seating  capacity  of  four  thousand,  and  the  stage  of  five 
hundred.  Opening  from  the  Auditorium,  and  arranged  around  the  sides  were 
twelve  or  more  large  rooms — dressing  rooms  for  theatrical  people,  etc.  The 
interior  was  treated  in  the  same  style  as  the  exterior,  with  a  free  use  of 
ornamental  pillars,  but  no  massive  columns  appeared  to  break  the  view  of 
the  audience  from  any  point.  The  immense  roof  of  the  structure  was  sup- 
ported entirely  by  trusses.  Special  attention  was  paid  by  the  architects  to  the 
problem  of  acoustics,  and  the  building  was  wholly  satisfactory  in  that 
regard.  It  was  the  work  of  Messrs.  Fisher  and  Lawrie,  of  Omaha.  Sculptural 
enrichment  on  this  building  was  confined  to  medallion  heads,  which  were 
well  executed  in  has  relief  by  Julius  Loester,  of  New  York. 

MINES   AND   MINING  BUILDING 

This  building  paired  with  "Machinery  and  Electricity"  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  lagoon.  It  was  designed  in  the  Greek  Ionic  order,  and  was  studiously 
and  exquisitely  wrought  out  in  the  detail  of  that  most  charmingly  graceful 
of  all  the  antiquities,  the  Erechtheium  at  Athens.  The  chief  feature  of  the 
lagoon  fagade  was  a  circular,  domed  pavilion  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
circumference,  rising  to  a  height  of  seventy-five  feet.  The  stepped  roof  of 
this  pavilion  was  supported  by  a  circular  row  of  fluted  columns,  the  space 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


123 


surrounded  by  them  being  open  and  forming  a  grand  domed  vestibule  for 
an  approach  to  the  building.  The  inner  dome  was  richly  designed  with  ribs 
and  panels,  and  decorated  in  colors,  while  the  outer  one  was  formed  by  a 
series  of  steps  rising  in  the  form  of  a  cone  to  the  apex,  which  was  crowned 
by  an  ornamental  base  and  flagstaff.  The  outer  row  of  dome  columns  was 
detached,  and  the  entablature  broken  around  them,  over  each  column  being 
a  statue  on  its  pedestal,  with  the  stylobate  of  the  dome  for  a  background. 
This  treatment  was  very  monumental  in  effect,  and  not  only  in  good  taste 
and  harmonious  architecturally,  but  also  original  and  interesting. 

Flanking  the  central  dome  were  beautiful  Ionic  colonnades,  which 
formed  covered  ways  along  the  entire  fagade  as  far  as  the  corner  towers,  a 
feature  always  keenly  appreciated  by  visitors  in 
the  heat  of  summer.  Over  these  colonnades 
were  balconies  of  generous  size  opening  from  the 
interior  galleries,  and  affording  excellent  points 
from  which  to  view  the  lagoon  and  the  Grand 
Court.  The  four  corners  of  the  building  were 
emphasized  by  square,  plain  towers,  surmounted 
by  ornate  open-columned  pavilions,  circular  in 
form  and  destined  for  electric  lighting.  The 
designer  of  this  building  was  Solon  S.  Beman, 
of  Chicago,  an  architect  of  wide  reputation,  and 
one  of  the  Architectural  Board  of  the  Columbian 
Exposition.  The  architect  of  the  Mines  building 
made  a  judicious  choice  in  his  sculptor,  for  it  is 
doubtful  if  a  more  appropriate  decoration  could 
have  been  conceived.  Robert  P.  Bringhurst,  of  St.  Louis,  surpassed  himself 
when  he  created  the  light-bearing  figures  which  crowned  and  glorified  the 
entablature  of  Beman's  central  dome. 


S.  S.  Beman 


As  in  the  case  of  the  Machinery  building,  the  Liberal  Arts  building 
adhered  to  the  French  Renaissance  school  of  architecture.  It  was  located 
on  the  south  side  of  the  lagoon,  near  the  Arch  of  the  States.  Its  exterior 
presented  the  appearance  of  two  stories,  the  first,  or  stylobate,  being  low 
in  treatment,  with  small  windows  cut  into  a  plain  wall  surface.  The  second 
story  was  enriched  by  Corinthian  columns  set  in  pairs,  with  ornamental 
windows  between,  and  the  roof  was  finished  with  an  open  balustrade,  for 
airiness  of  effect.  At  each  corner  of  the  building  were  pavilions  with  ornate 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illumination^  125 

pediments  projecting  from  the  main  wall  line  sufficiently  to  give  a  strong  corner 
treatment.  Above  the  pediments  were  octagonal  bases  on  which  were  set 
groups  of  statuary.  Each  group  comprised  four  heroic  figures,  the  main  one 
personifying  "Liberal  Arts,"  being  supported  by  two  kneeling  figures  suggest- 
ing "Industrial  Art,"  while  in  front  of  all  was  a  small  figure  bearing  a  shield 
on  which  the  attributes  of  pottery  and  wrought  iron  were  inscribed.  The 
class  of  exhibits  for  which  the  building  was  destined  was  indicated  by  the 


Geo.  L.  Fisher  Harry  Lawrie 

ARCHITECTS    LIBERAL    ARTS    BUILDING 

statuary  and  ornament  so  freely  used  on  the  exterior.  The  general  effect  was 
quiet  and  dignified,  and  in  strict  harmony  with  its  neighbors  in  the  Grand 
Court. 

The  Liberal  Arts  building  measured  two  hundred  and  forty-six  feet  in 
length  by  one  hundred  and  thirty  in  depth.  Its  main  entrances  were  on  the 
east,  west  and  north  fronts.  Its  architects  were  Fisher  and  Lawrie,  of 
Omaha.  Its  sculptor  was  Julius  Loester.  of  New  York. 

THE   ARCH   OF   THE   STATES 

This  stately  arch,  one  of  the  most  noticeable  structures  of  the  Exposition, 
formed  the  Grand  Entrance.  It  was  joined  on  either  side  by  curved  exedras, 
partially  embracing  the  plaza  before  the  arch.  These  exedras  contained 
the  main  ticket  offices. 

The  arch  itself  was  fifty  feet  wide  by  twenty-five  deep,  and  measured 
sixty-eight  feet  to  the  top  of  its  parapet.  Strong,  simple  abutments  on  either 
side  helped  to  support  an  extremely  rich  and  broad  frieze  of  a  double  arcade 
of  twenty-four  arches,  containing  shields  decorated  in  color  with  the  coats- 


126 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


of-arms  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States.  The  frieze  was  repeated  on  the 
other  side  of  the  arch,  while  upon  the  ends  were  displayed  the  coats-of-arms 
of  the  remaining  States.  Above  the  frieze  was  a  band  containing  a  panel 
inscribed  "Arch  of  the  States,"  and  above  that  the  decorated  cornice  with 
dentils  and  acrotcria.  The  whole  was  surmounted  by  a  high  parapet,  at  the 
center  of  which  on  either  side  was  a  large  shield  with  the  arms  of  the  United 
States,  under  a  golden  eagle,  and  upheld  by  youths  bearing  masts  for  the 
national  colors. 

It  was  expected  that  this  arch  should  be  built  of  stone,  to  form  a 
permanent  memorial  of  the  Exposition,  and  the  future  entrance  to  "Kountze 
Park,"  but  this  happy  thought  was  not  put  into  execution,  and  there  now 
remains  nothing  to  commemorate  those  scenes  of  beauty  which  Omaha  is 
so  proud  to  have  achieved. 

The  Arch  of  the  States  was  designed  by  Walker  &  Kimball.  The 
sculpture  employed  in  its  decoration  was  the  work  of  R.  P.  Bringhurst.  of 
St.  Louis. 


ej 


Arch  of  the  States 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


127 


THE   FINE   ARTS   BUILDING 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings  adorning  the  Court  of  Honor  was 
the  Fine  Arts  building.  In  shape  it  was  a  parallelogram  two  hundred  and 
forty-six  feet  long  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  wide,  its  long  axis  parallel 
to  the  lagoon.  It  consisted  of  two  separate,  symmetrical,  domed  buildings, 
united  by  a  peristylium,  or  open  court,  surrounded  by  colonnades.  These 
rested  on  a  balustraded  ter- 
race, and  were  approached 
from  the  plaza  by  flights  of 
steps,  and  also  from  the 
avenue  bordering  the  canal, 
which  lay  north  of  the  build- 
ing. 

One  entered  through 
the  portico  and  vestibule  to 
the  rotunda,  similar  in  each 
building,  and  lighted  from 
the  top,  forming  an  admir- 
able place  for  the  effective 
display  of  statuary.  Sur- 
rounding this  central  feature 
were  the  galleries,  all  lighted 
by  skylight,  and  so  planned 
as  to  afford  the  greatest 
amount  of  wall  surface  for 
the  exhibition  of  pictures, 
and  to  allow  for  the  proper 
circulation  of  visiting 
crowds.  The  two  separate 
wings  of  the  building  offered 
a  better  opportunity  for  the 
classification  of  material,  and  at  the  same  time  brought  the  scale  of  the 
architecture  to  its  proper  relation  with  the  surroundings  and  the  general 
scheme  of  the  grounds.  The  colonnade  joining  the  two  parts  formed  an 
effective  feature,  conspicuous  from  the  canal  and  opposite  avenue,  and  afforded 
a  place  for  the  installation  of  architectural  fragments  and  models,  which  could 
not  be  so  suitably  disposed  within  the  walls.  A  touch  of  landscape  art  lent 
additional  interest  to  the  treatment  of  this  court. 


Entrance,  Fine  Arts  Building 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations  129 

In  the  exterior  design  a  somewhat  free  rendering  of  classic  motif  was 
adopted,  the  usual  severe  simplicity  of  outline  being  modified  sufficiently  to 
bring  it  in  accord  with  the  purpose  of  the  building.  The  basis  of  the  design 
was  the  Corinthian  order,  which  was  used  in  two  dimensions,  the  larger 
emphasizing  the  entrance  porticoes  and  repeated  on  the  gables  fronting  the 
canal  and  opposite  side;  the  smaller  was  adjusted  to  the  height  of  the  flanking 


William  S.  Eames  Thomas  G.  Young 

ARCHITECTS    FINE    ARTS    BUILDING 

walls  and  connecting  peristyle,  and  served  to  bind  the  separate  elements 
into  one  composition.  The  designers  of  the  building  were  Messrs.  Eames 
&  Young,  of  St.  Louis.  William  S.  Eames  has  since  twice  been  the  President 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects.  To  Eames  &  Young  is  owed  the 
introduction  of  R.  P.  Bringhurst,  of  St.  Louis,  to  the  Exposition,  and  to 
Bringhurst  is  due  the  beautiful  sculpture  of  the  Fine  Arts  Building. 

THE   HORTICULTURAL   BUILDING 

The  most  important  feature  of  the  Bluff  tract  was  the  Horticulture 
building,  those  of  the  various  States  being  attractively  grouped  around  it. 
Destined  for  the  display  of  flowers  and  fruits,  it  was  naturally  different  in 
style  and  decoration  from  its  companions,  much  latitude  being  permitted 
the  architect.  Its  dimensions  were  one  hundred  and  thirty  by  three  hundred 
and  ten  feet,  and  from  the  ground  to  the  top  of  its  belfry,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  feet.  The  Ionic  order  was  followed  in  its  design,  but  unconventionally 
handled  and  with  somewhat  Oriental  effect,  the  details  of  ornament  being,  of 
course,  floral  and  horticultural  in  their  source. 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


131 


Towers,  or  minarets,  of  Eastern  feeling,  guarded  the  sides  of  an  imposing 
main  entrance,  and  were  repeated  on  the  other  three  sides,  producing  an 
octagonal  form  which  terminated  in  the  dome. 
Circular  colonnades  filled  the  space  between 
these  minarets  and  were  further  beautified  by 
statuary  emblematic  of  the  seasons.  A  balcony 
above  the  dome  was  used  as  an  observatory, 
affording  a  magnificent  view,  not  only  of  the 
whole  Exposition,  but  of  the  surrounding 
country,  the  picturesque  Missouri  Valley,  and 
even  the  city  of  Council  Bluffs,  five  miles  distant. 
A  belfry  surmounted  this  balcony.  Octagonal- 
roofed  pavilions  terminated  the  wings.  •  Further 
decorative  effect  was  furnished  by  a  wide  frieze 
of  cupids  holding  high  carnival  among  a  pro- 
fusion of  fruits  and  flowers;  and  at  either  side 
of  the  entrance,  set  on  the  high  stylobate,  were 
groups  of  statuary  called  "Night"  and  "Morning,"  intended  to  be  festooned, 
one  with  morning-glories  and  the  other  with  night-blooming  cereus.  The 
lavish  decoration  of  the  building  with  plants  and  vines  of  all  varieties,  urns 
and  hanging  baskets  of  flowers,  added  greatly  to  its  charming  effect.  The 
architect  was  the  late  Charles  F.  Beindorff,  of  Omaha.  The  statuary 
employed  was  the  work  of  Julius  Loester,  of  New  York. 


Chas.  F.  Beindorff 


THE   TRANSPORTATION   BUILDING 

Called  the  "Transportation  and  Agricultural  Implement  Building,"  this 
was  the  largest  of  all  the  Exposition's  great  buildings,  covering  five  acres. 
It  was  included  in  the  North  tract,  or  "farm  group,"  and  was  characteristically 
built  of  half-timber  and  plaster.  Its  whole  surface  was  marked  off  into 
picturesque  panels  by  an  intersecting  network  of  framing  timber,  posts, 
brackets  and  braces.  Deeply-recessed  porches  sheltered  the  east  and  west 
entrances,  and  wide,  overhanging,  bracketed  cornices  cast  the  broad  shadows 
so  effective  and  so  necessary  to  this  style  of  architecture.  All  parts  of  the 
interior  were  pervaded  by  a  soft,  amber  light,  most  soothing  to  the  tired  eyes 
of  sightseers,  produced  by  the  substitution  of  tinted  translucent  fabric  for 
glass. 

This  building  was  designed  by  Walker  &  Kimball.     It  bore  no  sculpture. 


132  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

THE   DAIRY   BUILDING 

Like  a  relative  of  the  Transportation  building,  a  daughter,  perhaps,  was 
this  very  charming  bit  of  half-timber  and  plaster  work,  small  enough  to  make 
it  possible  to  take  it  all  in  at  once.  One  felt  in  the  presence  of  a  bit  of  the 
France  of  the  Middle  Ages — no,  rather  that  of  the  Trianon — and  was  almost 
disappointed  not  to  be  met  by  Marie  Antoinette,  or  at  least  one  of  her  make- 
believe  dairy  maids.  One  was  met.  however,  by  just  the  contents  that  went 
with  such  a  building;  or  rather,  one  should  say  that  the  building  exactly 
fitted  its  purposes  and  the  exhibit  it  housed.  Warm,  creamy-white  walls, 
overlaid  with  old-burnt-sienna  timbering — what  could  better  suggest  the 
butter  and  cream  within?  F.  A.  Henninger,  of  Omaha,  was  certainly  at  his 
best  when,  as  architect,  he  wrought  this,  little  gem  of  the  Exposition. 

THE   APIARY   BUILDING 

This  building  was  a  worthy  mate  for  the  Dairy  building,  adhering  to 
its  chief  features  with  great  fidelity.  In  minor  details  were  introduced  some 
characteristic  suggestions  of  its  purposes.  Half-timber  and  plaster  were  the 
materials.  John  McDonald,  of  Omaha,  was  the  architect. 

MINOR  BUILDINGS 

The  State  buildings  were  picturesquely  grouped  on  the  Bluff  tract,  east 
of  the  main  Court,  and  were  of  at  least  the  usual  merit. 

Here  were  buildings  for : 

Nebraska — McDonald  &  Craddock,  architects,  Omaha  and  Lincoln. 

Iowa — Josselyn  &  Taylor,  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa. 

Illinois — Wilson  &  Marshall,  architects,  Chicago. 

Minnesota — James  Alan  McLeod,  architect,  St.  Paul. 

Kansas — John  F.  Stanton,  architect,  Topeka. 

Wisconsin — Ferry  &  Clas,  architects,  Milwaukee. 

Montana — Designed  by  Leo  Bonet,  of  Chicago. 

Georgia — Designed  by  Dunnavant  &  Thompson,  Omaha. 

New  York — Dunham  Wheeler,  architect.  New  York. 

There  were  on  the  Bluff  tract  many  other  interesting  structures,  mostly 
by  private  owners,  such  as  the  pavilions  of  Montgomery  Ward.  Chicago: 
Bemis  Bag  Co.,  Omaha;  Liggett  Myers  Tobacco  Co.,  of  St.  Louis;  and 
the  curious  Nebraska  sod  house,  and  the  Indian  wigwam  of  Pottawattamie 
County,  Iowa,  and  the  Moorish  and  Chinese  villages,  and  the  Exposition's 
much-admired  bandstand,  designed,  contracted,  built  and  used  all  within 
nineteen  days'  time. 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


133 


On  the  north  were  located  the  Press  and  Poultry  buildings,  the  former 
by  Architects  Fisher  &  Lawrie;  International  Hall,  by  Architect  J.  J.  Hum- 
phreys; and  the  power  plant,  warehouse,  service,  fire  and  police,  and 
hospital  buildings,  and  live-stock  pavilion  and  sheds,  with  many  minor 
kiosks  and  pavilions  for  various  purposes,  all  by  the  Exposition's  own  archi- 
tectural staff. 

CONNECTING  COLONNADES,  ACCESSORIES,  ETC. 

In  the  designing  of  large  and  complex  architectural  compositions,  the 
minor  details,  accessories,  and  connecting  links  have  much  to  do  with  the 
ultimate  success  or  failure  of  the  whole.  That  in  this  particular  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  Exposition  was  fortunate  and  the  result  strikingly  successful  is 
simple  fact.  To  the  connecting  colonnades  with  their  continuous  lines  of 
shade  the  Exposition  visitor  owed  not  only  his  physical  comfort  but  his 
artistic  satisfaction  as  well,  for  these  same  colonnades  were  the  means  of 
shutting  out  a  tristc  and  sordid  background;  without  them  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  forget  for  the  moment  even  where  we  were,  and  that  the  whole 
was  but  a  dream.  To  the 
forest-like  repeat  of  these 
same  column  units  was 
largely  due  the  sense  of  scale, 
and  particularly  of  distance, 
which  gave  to  the  Grand 
Court  of  the  Trans-Missis- 
sippi the  effect  of  being  the 
most  extensive  and  generous 
single  group  ever  accom- 
plished in  an  Exposition 
design.  The  fountains  and 
vases,  stairways  and  terraces, 
balustrades  and  standards, 
pedestals  and  pavilions,  even 
the  sanitary  kiosks,  all 
played  their  proper  part  in 
joining  together,  accenting, 
masking,  or  enhancing, 
which  made  of  that  Grand 
Court  the  truly  artistic  whole 
that  it  was.  The  south 
viaduct  and  great  restaurant 
with  its  double  towers  formed  

Statuary  and  Colonnade 


134 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


a  particularly  important 
feature;  for  had  it  not  to 
close  one  end  of  the  vista? 
and  did  it  not  successfully 
balance  the  Government 
building  itself  at  the  opposite 
end?  The  north  viaduct, 
connecting  two  sections  of 
the  so-called  Midway,  was  a 
very  pleasing  bit  of  pictur- 
esque half -timber  work,  and 
combined  an  important 
practical  function  with  an 
interesting  bit  of  Exposition 

Groups  of  Statuary  COllCeit.        It    W3S    a    bridge   of 

concession  booths — a  veritable  Ponte  Vecchio — except  that  it  spanned  Sherman 
Avenue  and  not  the  Arno.  Messrs.  Walker  &  Kimball,  the  architects-in-chief, 
contributed  the  designs  for  all  of  these  accessory  features.  The  most  successful 
of  the  isolated  bits  of  sculpture  were  furnished  by  Franz  Engelsmann.  The 
splendid  figure  of  Neptune  which  surmounted  the  column  of  the  Electric 
Fountain  and  so  vividly  reminded  one  of  John  of  Bologna's  masterpiece  in 
far-away  Italy,  was  by  F.  H.  Wuertz,  and  was  his  last  work,  for  he  went 
down  with  the  Bourgogne  on  his  way  back  to  Europe  shortly  after  the  Expo- 
sition opened. 

ORGANIZATION 

The  architectural  division  of  the  Department  of  Buildings  and  Grounds 
was  organized  as  follows :  Walker  &  Kimball,  Boston  and  Omaha,  Architects- 
in-Chief.  Cass  Gilbert,  St.  Paul ;  Eames  &  Young,  St.  Louis ;  S.  S.  Beman, 
Chicago;  J.  J.  Humphreys,  Denver;  D.  H.  Perkins,  Chicago;  Fisher  &  Lawrie, 
Omaha,  formed  the  Architectural  Board.  H.  Weathenvax,  of  Chicago,  was 
the  chief  draughtsman. 

Unstinted  praise  is  due  to  every  one  of  the  architects  that  formed 
that  incomparable  board,  and  to  those  other  past  masters  of  craft  to  whom 
the  Exposition  owed  its  landscape  and  illumination — Rudolph  Ulrich,  Luther 
Stieringer  and  Henry  Rustin,  all  of  whom  have  died,  each  leaving  a  vacancy 
yet  unfilled.  The  group  of  sculptors — Bock,  Bringhurst,  Mettler,  Engels- 
mann, Loester  and  Wuertz — who  put  the  finishing  touches  of  art  upon  the 
whole,  proved  their  claim  to  the  highest  praise  freely  bestowed. 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


135 


During  the  existence  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Architectural  office,  March 
19,  1897  to  June  15,  1898,  a  period  of  453  days,  organization  was  effected, 
a  board  of  architects  assembled,  a  force  of  draughtsmen  and  assistants 
employed,  the  general  plan  or  scheme  evolved  and  perfected,  a  set  of  rules 
made  for  the  guidance  of  all  designers,  general  dimensions  for  all  the  buildings 
determined,  a  universal  module  established;  focal  points,  cornice  heights  and 
other  important  factors  in  design  fixed;  with  possibly  one  exception,  the 


Main  Entrance,  Fine  Arts  Building 

actual  construction  drawings  for  all  the  important  buildings  were  made;  six 
of  them,  together  with  all  of  the  accessories,  including  the  lagoon  itself,  were 
designed  and  detailed  as  well.  A  careful  supervision  was  given  to  the  work 
of  all  the  architects,  the  complete  drawings  and  details  of  all  the  buildings, 
great  and  small,  being  passed  upon  with  scrupulous  care.  All  of  the  important 
buildings  with  one  exception  were  specified  in  the  Exposition's  own  archi- 
tectural office,  and,  as  a  measure  of  economy,  all  the  duplicating  of  drawings 
was  accomplished  there,  too;  to  use  a  homely  simile,  the  drawings  and  prints 
turned  out  by  this  department  would  have  paved  Farnam  Street,  Omaha, 


13G  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

from  421!  to  the  river,  and  from  building  line  to  building  line,  while  over  a 
ton  of  specifications  were  produced.  The  site  for  each  concession  was  deter- 
mined, and  the  character  of  the  structures  themselves  carefully  considered. 
The  problem  of  surface  drainage  was  worked  out  in  the  architects'  office,  and 
there,  too,  was  made  the  official  map.  The  landscaping,  illumination,  deco- 
ration and  sculpture  were  all  collaborated  with  the  architects-in-chief,  and 
through  it  all  a  most  voluminous  correspondence  was  found  necessary  to 
bring  together  and  harmonize  all  the  widely  separated  elements.  Besides  all 
of  these,  the  regular  duties  of  the  office,  assistance  was  afforded  to  other 
departments  whenever  and  however  required.  For  "Exhibits"  were  furnished 
endless  floor  diagrams  and  space  computations.  For  "Ways  and  Means"  and 
the  official  staff  a  medal  was  designed  and  countless  estimates  of  cost  made. 
For  "Publicity"  many  excellent  cuts  were  made  from  drawings  produced 
by  the  architects'  office,  including  that  masterly  general  view-  for  the  use  of 
which  Harper's  Weekly  paid  the  Exposition  management.  The  cost  of 
equipping  and  maintaining  this  office  during  the  entire  period  of  its  existence 
was  $16,587.35,  and  included  the  salary  of  the  architects-in-chief.  This  is 
a  trifle  over  tw-o  and  a  half  per  cent  upon  the  total  cost  of  the  work  which 
came  under  its  care.  Much  of  this  work  related  to  departments  apart  from 
the  architecture.  The  architects  were  called  upon  to  plan  the  drainage  system 
incident  to  the  canal  and  basin  as  w7ell  as  the  general  system  of  drainage; 
to  plan,  in  a  general  way,  the  landscaping,  which  included  bridges,  kiosks, 
pavements  and  other  constructive  work  not  strictly  belonging  to  the  depart- 
ment of  architecture.  That  the  architects'  office  of  the  Exposition  was  an 
efficient  agent  in  its  work  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  unforeseen  additions 
to  contracts  commonly  called  "extras"  amounted  to  less  than  one-quarter 
of  one  per  cent,  and  that  over  $100,000  of  the  amount  authorized  to  be 
expended  for  buildings  was  not  used.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  this  was 
the  first  exposition  in  which  piling  was  used  for  general  foundations 
and  for  anchorage — a  single  item  that  saved  over  one-half  the  cost  of 
the  foundations.  Cold-water  paint  and  translucent  fabric  were  both  inter- 
esting novelties  at  this  time,  having  been  experimented  with  only  at  the 
Nashville  show  being  held  during  our  building  period.  A  very  valuable 
lesson  in  construction  was  taught  by  the  use  of  a  different  type  of  truss  for 
the  main  span  of  each  of  the  great  buildings.  The  8o-foot  void  was  bridged 
in  more  than  eight  different  ways,  and  without  an  appreciable  difference  in 
the  cost. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Gilbert,  Eames  &  Young,  and  Walker  &  Kim- 
ball  of  the  Architectural  Board  have  since  all  been  similarly  connected  with  the 
St.  Louis  World's  Fair;  and  Gilbert,  Walker,  and  Kimball  were  Roosevelt 
appointees  on  the  National  Council  of  Fine  Arts:  while  t<>  \Venther\va\  has 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations  137 

been  entrusted  the  organization  and  operation  of  the  draughting  departments 
of  every  important  exposition  that  has  followed  the  Trans-Mississippi. 

Such  was  the  working  history  of  the  office  and  staff  which  produced  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  architecture.  It  certainly  is  not  amiss  to 
ascribe  the  success  achieved  to  an  unparalleled  harmony  among  the  workers 
themselves,  and  the  complete  subordination  of  self,  without  which  no  great 
architectural  composition  ever  realized  its  possibilities. 

ELECTRICAL   ILLUMINATIONS 

Imagine  a  great  rectangle  whose  dimensions  measure  about  3,000  feet  by 
670  feet,  with  an  almost  continuous  row  of  palaces,  towers  and  colonnades 
along  its  outer  lines,  and  with  a  canal  150  feet  wide  bisecting  its  long  dimen- 
sion. It  was  in  a  vast  theater  such  as  this  that  the  electricians  found  a  rare 
opportunity  for  displaying  the  art  of  illumination  by  means  of  thousands  of 
incandescent  bulbs.  Never  before  had  they  attempted  so  bold  a  project 
without  the  aid  of  the  arc  lamp,  and  never  before  was  there  so  great  a  triumph 
scored  in  an  untried  field.  More  than  20,000  eight  and  sixteen  c.p.  bulbs  were 
used,  outlining  the  principal  architectural  features  of  the  buildings  and  placed 
in  clusters  on  the  tops  of  decorative  columns.  This  resulted  in  an  illumina- 
tion highly  diffused,  widely  distributed  and  with  no  point  of  intense  brilliancy. 
The  pure  white,  untinted  staff  of  the  buildings  and  of  the  columns  and  colon- 
nades gave  a  diffused  reflection  of  the  incandescent  lighting,  realizing 
higher  artistic  effects  than  was  ever  before  attained  in  a  large  area  illuminated 
artificially.  The  soft  glow  of  the  myriad  of  lights,  somewhat  resembling 
moonlight,  except  for  the  absence  of  shadows,  produced  enchanting  effects. 
The  comparatively  yellow  light  of  the  incandescent  bulb  reflected  from  the 
water  in  the  canal  gave  a  beautiful  shimmer  over  the  whole  surface,  enhancing 
the  brilliancy  of  a  scene  of  unrivalled  splendor.  A  descriptive  writer  used 
these  words :  "The  scene  at  night  when  the  silence  is  broken  only  by  the 
lapping  of  the  waters  and  song  of  the  gondolier  and  the  hum  of  many  voices ; 
with  the  great  buildings  outlined  by  myriad  electric  lights;  with  bridges  in 
graceful  arches  spanning  the  canal  penciled  with  rows  of  brilliants ;  with 
Venetian  boatmen  gliding  softly  down  the  canal,  and  with  strains  of  music 
faintly  heard,  was  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  The  imagination  falters  in 
vain  effort  to  picture  anything  more  entrancing." 

It  was  like  a  glimpse  into  fairyland.  The  salient  points  of  architecture 
of  the  Government  building  were  made  distinct  by  these  electric  starpoints. 
The  heroic  figure,  "Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,"  surmounting  the  dome, 
wore  a  scintillating  tiara,  and  the  upheld  torch  illumined  a  wide  area. 
Beneath  the  figure  several  lines  of  light  girdled  the  lantern  above  the  dome. 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations  139 

which  was  covered  by  streamers  of  light  apparently  held  to  their  places 
by  five-pointed  stars  on  either  side  of  the  dormer  windows.  Another  line  of 
lights  completely  encircled  the  base  of  dome.  Festoons  of  lights  from  the  dome 
to  the  corner  pavilions  at  either  end  of  the  main  portion  of  the  great  building 
were  most  effective.  Arising  from  the  roof  of  the  central  portion  of  the 
building  a  series  of  flambeaux  supported  on  shafts  of  artistic  design  cast  a 
radiance  upon  surrounding  objects,  the  reflection  of  light  upon  the  allegorical 
figures  on  the  upper  cornices  and  flanking  the  domes  producing  effects  rarely 
attained. 

A  distinctive  feature  of  the  illuminations  was  the  electrical  fountain 
designated  "Nautilus."  In  the  center  was  a  tall  column  on  the  top  of  which 
was  seated  the  figure  of  Neptune.  The  fountain  consisted  of  a  large  number 
of  jets  forming  sprays,  the  whole  being  some  100  feet  in  length  by  about  half 
that  distance  in  width.  The  sprays  were  illuminated  by  incandescent  lights 
rising  just  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  surrounded  by  opalescent  shades 
giving  the  effect  of  water  lilies.  Further  illumination  of  the  mirror  was 
effected  by  searchlights  placed  on  the  colonnades,  by  means  of  which  all  colors 
of  the  rainbow  were  projected  upon  the  sprays  of  the  fountain. 

Rising  from  the  balustrade  on  the  water's  edge  about  the  whole  canal 
were  standards  painted  white  with  pedestals  and  crowns  carrying  circlets  of 
i6-candlepower  incandescent  lights.  Back  farther  from  the  water  front 
between  the  canal  and  the  buildings  were  fluted  Corinthian  columns  about  ten 
feet  high  also  carrying  crowns  of  incandescent  lights,  which  effected  a 
pleasing  illusion,  magnifying  the  height  of  the  buildings. 

Every  building  was  outlined  with  the  glowing  bulbs.  Along  cornice, 
around  window,  on  pillar,  dome  and  portico  the  gleaming  firefly  of  the 
electrical  world  made  radiant  the  view.  On  either  side  were  defined  the 
colonnades  which  connected  the  Government  building  with  its  sister  buildings 
on  right  and  left  by  pillars  of  light.  The  Fine  Arts  building  riveted  the 
attention  with  domes  light-encircled,  cornices  ablaze,  pillars  and  pilasters 
illuminated.  Opposite,  across  the  gently-rippling  water-mirror,  was  the 
classical  Agriculture  building,  presenting  an  opportunity  for  artistic  incan- 
descent decoration.  The  upper  lines,  including  the  balustrades  and  the 
imposing  entrance  and  cornice  towers,  stood  revealed  by  the  numerous  electric 
punctuation  points.  The  Administration  Arch  showed  its  lofty  spire  outlined 
in  symmetrical  lines  of  light  to  the  uppermost  point.  The  Manufactures 
building  had  the  prominent  roof  cornices,  caps  of  columns,  pedestals  and 
other  points  of  vantage  emblazoned  with  incandescent  lights.  Across  the 
canal  the  Arch  of  the  States  was  girdled  with  bands  of  light,  and  the  Liberal 
Arts  building  was  vividly  outlined  along  its  cornices.  The  Mines  and 
Mining  building  \vas  especially  adapted  for  this  beautiful  decoration  and  right 


140 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Terrace  Towers  at  Night 

royally  was  it  beribboned  and  festooned.  Its  graceful  portico  was  clearly 
defined,  the  towers  wore  scintillating  crowns,  the  windows  shone  as  if  revelry 
were  within.  Facing  this  structure  was  the  palace  of  Machinery  and  Elec- 
tricity, with  all  effective  points  penciled  in  light.  The  east  end  of  the  canal 
in  front  of  the  two  buildings  last  mentioned  in  company  with  the  adjacent 
terraces,  kiosks,  landing  and  broad  viaduct  leading  away  from  it.  was 
brilliantly  lighted  by  incandescent  lamps  supported  by  fanciful  standards  of 
special  design. 

Descriptive  writers  of  many  leading  newspapers  confessed  their  inability 
to  present  upon  the  written  page  an  adequate  reproduction  of  the  wonderful 
illuminations.  A  representative  of  Harper's  Weekly  visited  the  Exposition 
and  wrote  several  letters  about  its  manifold  attractions.  Of  the  night  scene 
he  said : 

"The  illumination  of  the  grounds  is  admirable.  I  saw  the  city  of  Pari> 
illuminated  one  night  in  honor  of  the  return  of  President  Faure  from  his 
successful  mission  to  St.  Petersburg,  but  there  was  nothing  in  the  illumination 
of  the  French  capital  to  be  spoken  of  in  the  same  breath  with  the  display  you 


Architecture  and  Electrical  Illuminations 


141 


may  see  any  night  on  the  grounds  of  the  Exposition.  The  Court  of  Honor, 
or  whatever  name  you  choose  to  give  it,  lies  a  half-mile  along  a  rippling-waved 
lagoon,  in  its  center,  bearing  many  a  picturesque  gondola.  The  water  reflects 
hack  the  thousands  of  electric  lights  which  define  with  beautiful  distinctness 
the  great  buildings  that  border  the  lagoon.  In  the  distance,  rising  in  noble 
proportions,  its  splendid  facade  marked  in  soft  lines  of  yellow  light,  the 
Government  building  stands  silhouetted  against  the  dark  sky.  All  down  the 
court  on  either  side  and  here  and  there  at  short,  irregular  distances  from  the 
buildings,  stand  graceful  Grecian  pillars — upon 
their  tops  no  flaming  torches  or  glowing, 
smoking  incense,  but  a  knot  of  brilliant  electric 
lights,  symbolical  rather  of  modern  investi- 
gation than  of  ancient  introspection.  By  day 
these  pillars  are  fine  and  interesting,  whether 
singly  or  in  vistas ;  by  night  they  are  peculiarly 
attractive — a  note  of  rich  beauty  in  the  general 
harmony.  From  the  western  end  of  the  court,  \ 
looking  toward  the  distant  viaduct  over  one  of 
the  city  streets,  the  view  is  scarcely  less  enchant- 
ing. The  pillared  corridors  that  connect  the 
main  buildings  and  afford  such  capital  relief 
from  rain  or  sun  have  their  share  of  illumina- 
tion. They  join  beyond  the  buildings  in  a 
graceful  semicircle,  or,  as  it  is  otherwise  called,  a  hemicycle  stairway,  rising 
easily  from  the  lagoon.  Above  this  is  a  domed  projection,  under  which  the 
speakers  stand  on  special  occasions  requiring  oratorical  display;  and  still 
above  this  two  lofty  minarets,  each  one  bearing  a  graceful  figure  standing  with 
sickle  in  hand,  typical  of  the  harvest.  The  effect  of  the  illumination,  looking 
either  way  from  east  to  west  or  midwray  in  the  great  canal,  is  very  beautiful. 
Should  you  call  it  magnificent — indeed,  superb — you  would  not  misapply  the 
words." 

At  the  outstart  plans  for  lighting  the  Exposition  grounds  were  put  into 
the  hands  of  Luther  Stieringer,  a  well-known  New  York  electrical  expert, 
who  soon  turned  over  the  work  to  the  late  Henry  Rustin,  of  Omaha.  To 
Mr.  Rustin's  creative  genius  was  due  all  the  credit  for  the  marvelous  results 
achieved. 


Henry  Rustin 


TANDING  at  the  west  end  of  the  Court  of  Honor, 
the  great  architectural  pile  erected  by  the  United 
States  Government  loomed  up  as  one  of  the  dis- 
tinguishing features  of  a  magnificent  array  of  colossal 
buildings  rarely  equaled.  The  extreme  length  of  the  building 
was  504  feet,  made  up  of  three  sections  having  a  depth  of 
150  feet.  The  center  section,  208  feet  long,  fronted  upon  the 
basin  in  which  the  lagoon  terminated.  The  height  of  this  main 
portion  of  the  great  structure  to  top  of  balustrade  over  cornice  was 
58  feet.  Obviously,  the  main  entrance  to  the  building  called  for 
elaborate  architectural  effects  upon  the  east  side  of  this  center  section. 
The  main  portal  was  reached  by  a  broad  flight  of  steps,  through  a 
colonnade  of  beautiful,  massive  design.  On  either  side  of  the  entrance 
arose  ornate  pavilions,  capped  by  richly  decorated  domes.  The  main 
building  was  surmounted  by  a  colossal  dome  of  great  architectural  beauty, 
towering  far  above  other  structures  in  the  grounds.  The  dome  was  capped 
by  an  heroic  figure  representing  "Liberty  Enlightening  the  World,"  the 
torch  being  178  feet  above  the  pavement.  Upon  the  pediments  of  the  pavilions 
at  either  side  of  the  main  entrance,  and  just  above  the  balustrade,  were  placed 
groups  of  statuary  of  highly  artistic  design,  while  at  intervals  along  the 
balustrade  for  the  entire  length  of  the  main  section  vari-colored  flags  fluttered 
from  staffs  set  in  ornate  sockets. 

From  the  base  of  either  pavilion,  in  front  of  the  building,  there  extended 
a  double  row  of  colonnades  on  either  side  of  the  three-lobed  basin  or  lake  to 
a  junction  with  the  Fine  Arts  building  upon  the  south  side  of  the  lagoon  and 
with  the  great  Agriculture  building  on  the  north  side.  These  colonnades, 
which  greatly  enhanced  the  architectural  effects  of  the  west  end  of  the  grounds, 
formed  a  covered  way  for  visitors  walking  to  and  from  the  Government  build- 
ing. While  this  colonnade  was  not  high,  it  obscured  in  a  measure  the  end 
sections  of  the  building,  each  of  which  having  a  frontage  of  148  feet  and  a 


144 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


James  Knox  Taylor 


Major  Henry  C.  Ward 


N.  H.  Michael 


height  of  44  feet  to  top  of  balustrade.  The  three  sections  made  up  a  building 
504  feet  long,  the  largest  and  finest  structure  the  Government  had  up  to  that 
time  erected  upon  the  grounds  of  an  exposition.  It  was  designed  under  direc- 
tion of  Charles  E.  Kemper,  acting  supervising  architect  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury 
Department,  and  was  constructed  under  the  direction  of  J.  K.  Taylor,  super- 
vising architect.  It  was  designed  in  the  classic  style,  the  Ionic  order  being 
used.  Happily  placed  in  its  relation  to  other  great  structures,  it  was  easily 
the  most  impressive  building  on  the  Exposition  grounds,  fitly  illustrating  the 
dignity  and  power  of  the  government  for  which  it  stood.  In  outline  beautiful 
in  the  extreme  by  day,  its  massive  proportions  were  penciled  and  defined  at 
night  by  rows  and  festoons  of  electric  lights,  producing  effects  at  once  novel 
and  charming,  affording  a  source  of  constant  delight  to  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  visitors. 

The  government's  exhibit  was  in  perfect  keeping  with  its  great  building. 
Over  46,000  feet  of  floor  space  was  covered  by  these  varied  and  highly  inter- 
esting exhibits,  through  which  the  principal  departments  of  Government  were 
represented.  Congress  appropriated  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  to 
defray  the  cost  of  the  building  and  the  placing  of  the  several  exhibits,  some 
of  which  being  located  on  other  parts  of  the  grounds.  A  chronicle  of  the 
important  facts  concerning  the  Exposition  of  1898,  failing  to  give  due  promi- 
nence to  the  rare  and  comprehensive  exhibits  of  the  Government,  could  not  be 
regarded  as  accurate  and  complete. 

Entering  through  the  main  portal  the  .visitor  beheld  an  immense  hall 
literally  full  of  curious,  rare  and  highly  interesting  objects  in  such  great  num- 
bers as  to  be  confusing  in  the  first  impression  made  upon  the  mind.  Upon 
the  walls,  flags  and  banners  were  used  in  the  decoration  of  panel  and  frieze, 
producing  most  pleasing  effects. 


Government  Building  and  Exhibits 


145 


F.  W.  True 


E.  M.  Stedman 


Wm.  V.  Cox 


First  place  was  given  to  the  exhibit  of  the  State  department,  near  the 
main  entrance.  An  imprint  of  the  great  seal  of  the  United  States,  framed 
and  beautifully  draped  with  flags,  hung  over  the  cases  and  pictures.  There 
were  medals  from  the  heads  of  foreign  governments  to  presidents  of  the 
United  States  commemorating  great  events ;  original  proclamations  of  the 
presidents,  handsomely  engrossed;  copies  of  laws  enacted  by  Congress,  show- 
ing the  different  forms  used,  one  of  which  being  signed  by  Gen.  Charles  F. 
Manderson  when  he  was  President  pro  tern,  of  the  United  States  Senate.  In 
another  case  were  a  sword  and  army  belt  used  by  Gen.  George  Washington, 
the  belt  being  nearly  worn  out;  a  little  writing  desk  upon  which  Thomas 
Jefferson  wrote  the  first  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  a  docu- 
ment conveying  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  the  gratitude  of  the  nobility 
of  Russia  for  assistance  rendered  during  the  famine  of  1892 — which  recalled 
the  fact  that  Nebraska  had  contributed  a  train-load  of  corn  to  the  starving 
peasants;  in  fact,  most  of  the  vast  amount  of  grain  received  by  them  was  sent 
from  the  Trans-Mississippi  States.  Another  object  of  interest  was  a  big 
silk  American  flag,  woven  in  one  piece,  made  and  paid  for  by  the  weavers  of 
Lyons,  France,  to  pay  for  which  subscriptions  were  received  from  25,000 
persons.  It  was  presented  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  a  token  of  the 
sympathy  of  the  French  tendered  to  America  upon  the  death  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  There  were  autograph  letters  from  eminent  foreign  statesmen, 
diplomats  and  men  of  note,  including  Robespierre,  Barre,  Carnot,  Louis  XV., 
Alexander  I.  of  Russia,  Jerome  Bonaparte,  Queen  Victoria,  Alexander  III. 
of  Russia,  William  I.  of  Germany,  President  Diaz  of  Mexico  and  the  King 
of  Siam.  There  were  portraits  of  the  successive  secretaries  of  State;  Andrew 
Jackson's  sword;  a  statuette  of  Washington,  and  many  other  historic  relics 
of  great  men. 


146  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

The  Treasury  Department  exhibit  was  placed  next  south  of  that  of  the 
State  Department,  nearly  4,200  square  feet  of  floor  space  being  used.  The 
Bureau  of  the  Mint,  among  other  things,  exhibited  a  coin  press  from  the  San 
Francisco  mint  which  was  operated  almost  daily  by  means  of  electric  power. 
The  souvenir  Exposition  medals  were  struck  off  by  this  machine,  the  opera- 
tion being  a  constant  source  of  intense  interest  to  visitors  who  crowded  about 
the  guard  railing.  This  was  a  novel,  live  exhibit,  which  contributed  much 
to  the  success  of  the  efforts  of  the  Government's  agents  to  attract  and  instruct 
the  people.  Another  bureau  exhibited  treasury  notes  of  various  denominations 
in  the  shape  of  proof  sheets  illustrating  the  process  of  printing,  also  silver 
certificates,  postage  and  revenue  stamps;  frames  displaying  canceled  United 
States  greenbacks  and  bonds;  specimens  of  old  State  (wildcat)  bank  issues; 
Confederate  States  notes  and  bonds  of  different  denominations ;  postal  currency 
of  a  generation  ago;  a  full  set  of  coins  of  the  United  States  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Government  to  the  present  time;  a  money-printing  press  in  opera- 
tion, together  with  many  other  objects  suggestive  of  Uncle  Sam's  great  money 
chest. 

The  War  Department  exhibit  was  located  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
building  and  occupied  4,586  square  feet  of  floor  space,  being  installed  under 
the  direction  of  Major  Henry  C.  Ward,  Sixteenth  United  States  Infantry,  who 
represented  officially  the  War  Department.  Five  branches  of  the  army  were 
illustrated.  The  war  with  Spain  broke  out  at  a  time  inopportune  for  making 
this  exhibit  as  extensive  as  it  was  intended  to  be,  rendering  impossible  a  dis- 
play of  some  pieces  of  ordnance  which  otherwise  would  have  been  shown. 
Depicting  the  evolution  of  uniforms  of  officers  and  enlisted  men  from  the 
Revolutionary  War  down  to  1898,  a  series  of  lay  figures  were  exhibited  by 
the  quartermaster's  department,  a  few  of  which  were  as  follows :  Group  of 
four  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  1776,  in  full-dress  uniform,  repre- 
senting a  brigadier-general,  an  adjutant-general  and  two  field  officers;  also 
group  of  privates  of  same  period;  a  Kentucky  and  a  Maryland  rifleman  in  uni- 
forms peculiar  to  the  State  militia;  uniforms  of  officers  and  privates  of  the 
War  of  1812;  also  those  of  the  Mexican  War  period,  1846;  those  of  a  colonel 
of  cavalry,  a  private  of  infantry  and  a  zouave  of  a  Pennsylvania  regiment, 
1861-5 — the  Civil  War  period;  also  numerous  figures  of  officers  and  men  of 
the  Spanish-American  War  period.  There  was  also  the  figure  of  a  Puritan 
of  1620  represented  as  being  on  his  way  to  church  with  a  gun  on  his  shoulder 
and  Bible  in  hand.  There  were  large  cannon  of  late  pattern,  a  Maxim  rapid- 
firing  gun,  with  projectiles  and  shells,  together  with  a  variety  of  infantry  ami 
cavalry  equipment.  An  exhibit  which  attracted  much  attention  was  made  up 
of  relics  of  the  war  with  Spain  which  were  added  soon  after  the  surrender  of 
the  Spanish  army  and  the  fall  of  the  city  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  July  17,  1898, 
as  follows :  The  first  Spanish  trophy  secured  in  Cuba,  a  regimental  Spanish 


Government  Building  and  Exhibits 


147 


flag  captured  at  the  battle  of  Juragasita,  Cuba,  on  June  23,  1898,  by  Com- 
pany N,  Twentyt-second  United  States  infantry  from  Fort  Crook,  Nebraska, 
names  of  the  men  who  made  the  capture  being  Corporal  Nueman,  Corporal 
Boyle  and  Privates  Keyser,  Cooley  and  Houghsalling;  a  large  Spanish  flag, 
taken  from  the  converted  cruiser,  "Mexico,"  in  the  harbor  of  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  July  17,  1898;  also  Mauser  rifles,  old  muzzle-loading  cannon  and  the 
Santiago  war  balloon.  The  signal  corps  had  an  exhibit  of  instruments  used 
by  it  in  active  service,  and  outside  of  the  building  the  corps  exhibit — war  and 


Model  of  Warship 

signal  balloons,  military  signaling  and  field  telephone  and  telegraph  apparatus. 
Signaling  by  balloons,  flags  and  heliographs  was  given  practical  demonstration 
when  weather  permitted.  In  the  main  exhibit  there  were  relics  of  the  Greely 
Arctic  expedition. 

The  navy  department  exhibit  was  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  building. 
The  chief  feature  was  a  display  of  models  of  warships,  torpedo  boats,  cruisers, 
battleships,  etc.,  including  an  original  model  of  the  "Maine,"  which  drew 
large  crowds.  There  were  models  of  perhaps  a  dozen  modern  war  vessels  of 
the  navy,  also  models  of  the  "Petrel,"  "Yorktown,"  "Katahdin,"  "Kearsarge," 
and  half  models  of  the  "Constitution,"  the  "Hartford,"  the  "Independence" 


148  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

and  the  "Ohio."  There  was  also  a  full-size  model  of  one  of  the  military  masts 
of  war  vessels  with  its  rapid-firing  guns  and  searchlight.  The  model  of  the 
battleship  "Illinois"  'was  used  to  illustrate  a  vessel  in  dry  dock.  The  Bureau 
of  Ordnance  was  represented  by  a  1 3-inch  gun,  a  6-pounder  Hotchkiss,  and 
other  guns  and  mortars  with  shot  and  shells.  There  were  anchors  and  signal 
flags.  A  most  interesting  exhibit  was  that  of  the  Franklin  life-buoy,  an 
invention  of  the  greatest  value.  A  small  rod  is  attached  to  each  side  of 
the  buoy,  the  base  of  which  contains  a  chemical  solution  that  ignites  at  contact 
with  the  water.  When  the  buoy  is  thrown  overboard  the  chemical  bursts  into 
a  continuous  flame  and  the  man  overboard  is  able  to  locate  it  at  once,  no  matter 
how  high  the  sea  may  be  rolling.  The  rods  are  held  under  water  by  their 
own  weight,  except  one  end  which  emits  a  cloud  of  smoke  by  day  and  becomes 
luminous  at  night.  The  "range-finder"  was  an  exhibit  which  excited  much 
curiosity.  It  is  an  invention  of  a  United  States  naval  officer,  and  its  workings 
are  unknown  outside  of  our  navy.  With  it  a  gunner  quickly  gets  the  range 
of  the  enemy's  ships. 

The  exhibit  of  the  Department  of  Justice  adjoined  that  of  the  navy,  being 
largely  in  the  nature  of  pictures  of  celebrated  judges  and  attorneys-general ; 
rare  copies  of  legal  books  and  blank  forms  giving  an  idea  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  business  of  the  department  is  transacted ;  there  were  articles  illus- 
trating the  prison  system  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  many  interesting 
manuscripts  of  a  technical  nature. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  building,  just  north  of  the  center,  over  3,400 
square  feet  of  floor  space  was  devoted  to  the  exhibit  of  the  post'-office  depart- 
ment. There  was  a  complete  series  of  postage  stamps  with  sets  of  foreign 
stamps.  There  were  models  of  uniformed  carriers,  of  mail  steamers,  of  post- 
office  cars,  including  the  Helena  and  Bozeman  stage  coach  of  pioneer  days, 
and  a  figure  of  an  Indian  mail  carrier  with  three  dogs  hitched  to  his  mail 
sledge.  The  dead-letter-division  exhibit  attracted  attention  and  there  were 
engravings,  portraits  and  photographs  illustrating  the  history  and  growth  of 
the  postal  service.  The  stamp  division  exhibit  was  highly  valuable  and  instruo- 
tive,  containing  samples  of  postage  stamps  of  successive  issues  since  their 
introduction  in  1847,  down  to  the  special  issue  commemorative  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  of  1898. 

This  special  issue  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  acts  incident 
to  government  participation.  The  stamps  were  issued  in  denominations  as 
follows:  i-cent,  2-cent,  4-cent,  5-cent,  8-cent,  io-cent,  5o-cent,  $i  and  $2. 
They  were  larger  than  ordinary  postage  stamps,  being  about  seven-eighths 
of  an  inch  in  width  by  one  and  three-eighths  inches  long.  The  designs  were 
unique,  made  up  largely  of  a  steel  engraving1  of  a  scene  indicative  in  some 
degree  of  the  development  of  the  great  region  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  border,  which  formed  in  its  inner  line  an  irregular 


Government  Building  and  Exhibits  149 

oval  framework  to  each  of  the  scenes  illustrated,  consisted  of  a  fluted  figure 
on  either  side,  with  interior  crossbars,  beginning  in  a  single  line  near  the 
bottom  of  the  stamp  and  enlarging  it  until  it  reached  a  shield  in  each  of  the 
upper  corners  wherein  was  engraved  in  white  the  Arabic  numeral  indicating 
the  denomination  of  the  stamp,  the  dollar  marks  being  included  in  the  two 
stamps  of  highest  value.  At  the  top,  connecting  the  two  shields  and  united  to 
the  fluted  framework  on  the  two  sides,  was  a  curved  tablet  on  which  was 
engraved  in  small,  white  capitals,  the  words,  "United  States  of  America.'* 
Above  this,  on  either  side,  were  heads  of  wheat  and  between  these  was  a  small 
scroll.  Below  the  engraving  was  the  title  of  the  picture  in  small,  white  Gothic 
letters  on  a  curved  tablet,  and  below  this,  on  either  side  in  scrolls,  were  the 
words  indicating  the  value  of  the  stamp.  Above  each  of  these  was  a  project- 
ing ear  of  corn,  and  at  the  bottom  of  all  on  a  straight  black  tablet  were  the 
words,  "Postage,  one  cent,"  etc.,  in  white  capitals.  The  titles  of  the  engraved 
pictures  are  as  follows  : 

One-cent  stamp — "Marquette  on  the  Mississippi,"  from  a  painting  by 
Lamprecht,  now  in  possession  of  Marquette  College,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  repre- 
senting Father  Marquette  in  a  boat  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  preaching  to 
the  Indians.  Color,  dark  green. 

Two-cent  stamp — "Farming  in  the  West,"  from  a  photograph  represent- 
ing a  western  grain  field  with  a  long  row  of  plows  at  work.    Color,  copper  red. 
Four-cent     stamp — "Indian     Hunting     Buffalo,"     reproduction     of     an 
engraving  in  schoolcraft;  history  of  the  Indian  Tribes.    Color,  orange. 

Five-cent  stamp — "Fremont  in  Rocky  Mountains,"  modified  from  a  wood 
engraving  representing  the  Pathfinder  planting  the  United  States  flag  on  the 
highest  peak  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Color,  dark  blue. 

Eight-cent  stamp— "Troops  Guarding  Train,"  representing  a  detachment 
of  United  States  soldiers  conveying  an  emigrant  train  across  the  prairies ;  from 
a  drawing  by  Frederick  Remington,  permission  to  use  which  was  kindly  given 
by  the  publisher,  R.  H.  Russell  of  New  York.  Color,  dark  blue. 

Ten-cent  stamp — "Hardships  of  Emigration,"  from  a  painting  (kindly 
loaned  by  the  artist,  A.  I.  Heaton)  representing  an  emigrant  and  his  family 
on  the  plains  in  a  "prairie  schooner,"  one  of  the  horses  having  fallen  from 
exhaustion.  Color,  slate. 

Fifty-cent  stamp — "Western  Mining  Prospector,"  from  a  drawing  by 
Frederick  Remington  (permission  to  use  which  was  kindly  given  by  the  pub- 
lisher, R.  H.  Russell  of  New  York)  representing  a -prospector  with  pack  mules 
in  the  mountains  searching  for  gold.  Color,  olive. 

Dollar  stamp — "Western  Cattle  in  Storm,"  representing  a  herd  of  cattle, 
preceded  by  the  leader,  seeking  safety  from  a  gathering  storm:  reproduced 
from  a  large  steel  engraving,  having  been  kindly  loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  D.  John- 
son. Color,  light  brown. 


Government  Building  and  Exhibits  151 

Two-dollar  stamp — "Mississippi  River  Bridge,"  from  an  engraving;  a 
representation  of  the  great  bridge  over  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis.  Color, 
sapphire  blue. 

The  entire  series  of  these  beautiful  commemorative  postage  stamps  was 
added  to  the  collection  of  stamps  in  the  exhibit,  in  the  shape  of  large  sheets 
bearing  many  stamps  of  one  denomination  just  as  they  were  taken  from  the 
printing  press.  They  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention.  The  total  issue  of 
these  commemorative  Exposition  stamps  approximated  325,000,000,  the 
department  issuing  them  to  nearly  every  postoffice  in  the  country.  The 
stamps  had  far-reaching  influence  not  only  in  advertising  the  Exposition,  but 
in  raising  it  in  rank  of  importance  to  a  plane  of  equality  with  former  exposi- 
tions which  had  enjoyed  such  recognition  at  the  hands  of  Uncle  Sam's  Govern- 
ment. To  Manager  Rosewater,  of  the  Department  of  Publicity  and  Promotion, 
was  chiefly  due  the  credit  for  tireless  efforts  to  induce  the  Government  to 
authorize  this  special  issue  of  commemorative  stamps. 

The  equipment  division  showed  a  complete  collection  of  United  States 
mail  bags  and  pouches,  a  collection  of  foreign  mail  bags  and  pouches,  and  by 
models  and  otherwise  contrasted  old  and  new  home  and  foreign  postal  uni- 
forms, equipment  and  means  of  transporting  the  mails. 

To  the  dead-letter  division  considerable  space  was  devoted,  and  it  made 
an  interesting  display  of  an  immense  variety  of  documents  and  articles  which 
had  failed  of  delivery  for  want  of  proper  addresses.  During  the  Civil  War  an 
immense  number  of  photographs  of  soldiers  reached  the  dead -letter  office  and 
among  a  collection  of  some  3000  on  exhibition  with  the  above,  Miss  Gorman, 
daughter  of  J.  J.  Gorman,  at  that  time  assistant  superintendent  of  the  Omaha 
street  railway,  recognized  her  father,  to  whom  it  was  sent  on  request  and 
proved  to  be  a  picture  he  had  mailed  home  when  he  was  at  the  front  with  the 
Union  army,  a  generation  ago. 

The  mounted  hide  of  Owney,  the  postal  clerks'  dog,  was  also  among  the 
exhibits.  This  dog  had  traveled  in  postal  cars  all  over  the  United  States  and 
Europe,  and  visited  China  and  Japan. 

In  addition  to  the  various  exhibits  above  mentioned,  in  a  separate  part  of 
the  building  a  working  postoffice  was  in  active  operation  during  the  period  of 
the  Exposition,  through  which  much  information  was  obtained  by  the  public 
with  reference  to  the  receipt,  dispatch  and  delivery  of  mails. 

The  exhibit  of  the  department  of  the  interior  was  placed  near  the  center  of 
the  building,  occupying  4067  square  feet  of  floor  space.  Its  many  interesting 
features  formed  a  constant  attraction  to  visitors.  Five  departmental  bureaus 
were  represented — the  Patent  Office,  the  General  Land  Office,  the  Bureau  of 
Indian  Affairs,  the  Geological  Survey  and  the  Bureau  of  Education.  The 
Patent  Office  exhibited  models  and  completed  agricultural  implements,  sewing 


152  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

machines,  printing  machinery,  typewriters,  and  an  infinite  variety  of  other 
forms  of  mechanism,  intended  to  show  the  progress  of  invention  in  the  United 
States.  There  were  472  original  models  of  patents.  The  General  Land  Office, 
among  other  things,  exhibited  a  fac-simile  of  the  first  land  patent  ever  issued 
to  a  citizen  of  Nebraska,  which  embraced  an  area  of  land  within  which  the 
Exposition  grounds  had  a  place.  The  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs  exhibited 
specimens  of  work  done  at  the  Indian  schools  by  Indian  boys  and  girls,  show- 
ing their  progress  in  gaining  a  working  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  trades. 
The  Bureau  of  Education  had  an  exhibit  of  pictures,  maps  and  charts  which 
demonstrated  the  degree  of  progress  made  by  the  young  Indians  along  educa- 
tional lines.  The  work  of  the  Indian  reservation  schools  was  graphically 
illustrated. 

The  Geological  Survey  made  a  novel  and  highly  interesting  display  of 
minerals,  topographical  maps,  etc.  There  were  rare  geological  specimens  and 
illuminated  photographic  transparencies  showing  scenes  in  Yellowstone  Park. 

The  exhibit  of  the  department  of  agriculture  was  located  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  building,  covering  4716  square  feet.  The  various  bureaus  were 
adequately  represented. 

The  weather  bureau  exhibited  and  operated  automatic  recording  instru- 
ments and  an  attendant  explained  their  workings,  as  well  as  the  use  and 
application  of  the  other  exhibits  of  the  bureau. 

The  division  of  pomology  furnished  information  concerning  the  appear- 
ance and  varietal  characteristics  of  important  fruits  by  means  of  models; 
while  a  special  feature  of  the  exhibit  was  a  collection  of  sun-dried  and  evap- 
orated fruits  of  the  United  States  illustrating  the  commercial  grading  and 
packing  of  such  fruits  for  market.  The  division  of  entomology  exhibited  in 
groups  such  insects  as  attacked  certain  plants,  confining  the  groups  to  such 
plants  as  are  found  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  country.  The  division  of  chem- 
istry devoted  its  space  largely  to  illustrating  the  history,  processes  and  products 
of  the  beet-sugar  industry  in  the  United  States,  with  special  reference  to 
Nebraska  and  States  west  of  the  Great  Lakes — a  territory  destined  to  produce 
more  sugar  than  its  population  consumes.  The  bureau  of  animal  industry 
exhibited  models  of  vats  for  dipping  sheep,  etc.,  and  a  feature  of  attraction 
was  the  microscopic  inspection  of  meat  which  was  carried  on  daily  by  four 
assistant  microscopists  detailed  from  the  force  of  the  bureau  at  South  Omaha. 
The  division  of  botany  demonstrated  its  work  along  lines  of  poisonous  plants, 
and  pure-seed  investigations.  The  division  of  vegetable  physiology  and 
pathology  by  models,  etc.,  illustrated  the  habits  of  growths  and  appearances 
of  the  different  genera  and  species  of  wild  edible  and  poisonous  mushrooms. 
The  division  of  forestry  demonstrated  by  monograms  the  character,  appear- 
ance, uses,  etc.,  of  trees;  by  models  showed  the  devastation  consequent  upon 


Government  Building  and  Exhibits  153 

indiscriminate  cutting  of  farm  forest  cover;  and  outside  near  the  transporta- 
tion and  agricultural  implement  building  made  practical  demonstration  of 
forestry  on  a  plat  of  ground  set  apart  for  that  purpose. 

A  prime  attraction  was  the  extraordinary  exhibit  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  and  National  Museum,  located  in  the  east  central  portion  of  the 
Government  building,  covering  about  4000  square  feet.  Although  the  exhibit 
was  an  extensive  one,  covering  a  multitude  of  interesting  things,  no  effort 
was  made  to  gather  together  an  exhaustive  collection  of  specimens,  the  object 
sought  being  rather  to  make  known  the  nature  of  the  work  carried  on  at 
Washington.  The  Smithsonian  Institution  proper  was  comprised  in  large 
part  of  pictures  of  the  various  secretaries  of  the  Institution,  medals,  a  cast  of 
the  bronze  tablet  which  a  short  time  before  had  been  placed  on  the  tomb  of 
Smithson  in  Genoa,  Italy;  and  in  addition,  for  the  first  time  was  exhibited  a 
photographic  copy  of  the  will  of  James  Smithson,  the  generous  Englishman 
to  whom  America  is  indebted  for  the  famous  institution.  The  Government  had 
only  recently  secured  this  valuable  memento,  and  the  exhibit  proved  quite  an 
acquisition  to  the  collection. 

The  National  Museum  exhibit  was  an  extensive  one  and  intended  to 
illustrate  the  leading  facts  of  human  effort  and  progress,  which  was  accom- 
plished by  means  of  a  series  of  articles  and  figures  enclosed  in  glass  cases. 
Among  the  subjects  treated  in  these  several  groups  of  articles  may  be  men- 
tioned :  fire-making  and  illumination;  tools  of  general  use;  weapons ;  domestic 
art;  the  books;  musical  instruments;  transportation,  land  and  marine;  electric- 
ity: while  groups  of  figures  in  an  interesting  way  illustrated  the  practice  of 
primitive  arts,  such  as  drilling,  skin  dressing,  pottery,  metal  working  and 
weaving. 

The  division  of  biology  displayed  in  a  number  of  glass  cases  an  interesting 
collection  of  mollusks,  insects,  fishes,  reptiles,  birds,  etc.  There  were  speci- 
mens of  characteristic  animals  of  the  salt  and  fresh  waters  of  North  America, 
from  the  invertebrates  to  the  highest  type  of  birds  and  mammals.  In  like 
manner  the  divisions  of  geology  and  mineralogy  made  their  exhibits  of 
geological  formation  and  various  minerals. 

The  exhibit  of  fish  and  fisheries  was  perhaps  the  most  interesting  to  a 
larger  number  of  visitors  of  any  other  display  made  by  the  Government.  To 
it  5142  square  feet  of  floor  space  were  allotted  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
building,  of  which  4000  square  feet  were  occupied  by  an  aquarium,  which  was 
a  grotto-like  structure  140  feet  long  by  26  feet  wide.  In  each  of  the  rotundas 
were  large  oval  pools  (25  in  all)  illuminated  from  below  by  electric  lights. 
The  methods  employed  in  fish  cultural  work  were  practically  demonstrated  by 
the  hatching  in  regulation  troughs  of  rainbow  and  black-spotted  trout,  and 
grayling  eggs.  The  process  of  taking  eggs  was  represented  by  a  lay  figure 


154  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

of  a  spawn-taker  with  Quinnat  salmon  in  his  hands  in  the  act  of  stripping  the 
eggs.  The  work  of  distribution  was  illustrated  by  photographs,  drawings, 
and  a  working  model  of  the  Commissioner's  car  then  recently  constructed. 
The  scientific  functions  and  work  of  the  commission  were  set  forth  by  models 
and  photographs  of  the  exploring  vessels  "Albatross"  and  "Fish  Hawk,"  by 
an  assortment  of  dredges,  nets,  deep-sea  sounding  apparatus  used  in  making 
collections  in  fresh  and  salt  water,  and  other  exhibits.  Owing  to  the  excessive 
summer  heat,  the  live  salt-water  fish  exhibit  was  not  a  success,  and  during 
August  was  abandoned,  fresh-water  fish  being  substituted.  There  were  two 
large  pools  in  the  center  of  the  building  devoted  to  gold  fish  and  other  water 
pets ;  also  an  interesting  collection  of  models  of  vessels,  appliances  and  appara- 
tus for  deep-sea  sounding,  along  with  the  sponges,  corals  and  deep-sea  animals. 

The  life-saving  service  was  represented  by  a  crew  of  eight  men.  The 
exhibit  occupied  a  separate  building,  and  daily  demonstrations  were  given 
in  the  lagoon  of  the  manner  in  which  rescues  of  drowning  men  were  effected 
in  cases  of  shipwreck.  This  exhibit  proved  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  attractions 
on  the  grounds.  It  was  prepared  by  Lieut.  McLellan,  who  arranged  the 
drills  for  the  crew.  The  coast  survey  and  marine  hospital  was  represented, 
and  the  light-house  bureau  had  a  highly  interesting  exhibit,  including  a  revolv- 
ing light  35  feet  in  height,  weighing  14  tons,  flashing  every  10  seconds.  There 
were  models  of  light-house  appliances. 

The  Government  building  and  exhibit  in  some  respects  formed  the 
greatest  attraction  on  the  Exposition  grounds.  The  several  departments  were 
in  charge  of  experienced  and  capable  men,  as  follows :  State  department,  Col. 
Wm.  H.  Michael;  treasury  department,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Kemper;  war 
department,  Major  Henry  C.  Ward;  department  of  justice,  Hon.  Frank 
Strong;  post-office  department,  Hon.  John  B.  Brownlow;  navy  department, 
Lieut. -Commander  Edward  M.  Stedman;  interior  department,  Hon.  F.  W. 
Clare;  department  of  agriculture,  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Brigham;  Smithsonian 
Institution  and  National  Museum,  Mr.  Frederick  W.  True;  fish  and  fisheries, 
Mr.  W.  de  C.  Ravenel. 

THE   SOUVENIR   COINS  AND   MEDALS 

When  the  plans  for  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  were  in  their 
infancy  the  question  of  a  souvenir  medal  was  broached  and  a  most  unique 
design  was  selected.  It  will  be  remembered  that  when  the  Cleopatra  Needle 
(tall  stone  shaft)  was  transported  from  Egypt  to  America  it  was  decided 
to  strike  off  a  medal  in  commemoration  of  the  event.  The  profile  of  Cleopatra 
was  desired  for  one  side,  but  no  perfect  profile  could  be  found.  Commander 
Goringe,  the  engineer  who  transported  the  Needle,  gathered  a  large  number 
of  the  mutilated  Egyptian  coins  and  had  photographs  made  of  a  sufficient 


Government  Building  and  Exhibits  155 

number  to  secure  a  complete  profile.  It  was  then  easy  to  make  a  die  for  the 
medal  and  commemorate  the  removal  of  the  great  obelisk. 

The  idea  of  composite  photography  was  utilized  in  making  the  souvenir 
coins  or  medals  of  the  Exposition.  A  corps  of  competent  judges  was  appointed 
in  each  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States.  They  selected  from  the  beautiful 
women  within  their  several  States  two  of  the  fairest,  and  photographs  of  these 
were  sent  to  headquarters  at  Omaha.  From  here  they  were  forwarded  to  an 
eminent  artist  in  New  York  City,  who  made  a  composite  picture  of  the  forty- 
four  beauties.  The  result,  which  ornamented  one  side  of  the  souvenir  coin, 
aptly  illustrated  the  best  and  strongest  type  of  Western  womanhood.  On  the 
obverse  side  of  the  medal  appeared  an  Indian  in  the  act  of  spearing  a  buffalo. 
Riding  his  pony  at  full  speed,  he  thrusts  the  blade  into  the  beast.  The  two 
illustrations  were  indicative  of  the  strides  civilization  and  culture  had  made 
in  the  West  in  fifty  years — 1848-1898. 

In  addition  to  the  souvenir  medals,  of  which  a  large  quantity  was  fur- 
nished, the  Government  had  a  number  of  gold,  bronze  and  silver  medals  struck 
off  as  awards  to  exhibitors  under  the  rules  adopted  by  the  Exposition  manage- 
ment and  printed  on  the  back  of  each  blank  application  that  was  sent  out  to  the 
prospective  exhibitors.  These  bore  appropriate  emblems  and  inscriptions, 
also  commemorative  of  the  Exposition,  and  a  series  was  issued  for  each  of 
the  various  departments  into  which  the  exhibits  were  divided. 

The  bronze  medals  issued  to  exhibitors  as  awards  of  merit  were  designed 
by  A.  J.  Dockarty.  This  design  was  also  used  for  the  official  seal  of  the 
corporation.  The  draped  figure  of  a  woman  sitting  in  the  foreground,  with 
products  of  the  farm  lying  before  her,  form  the  center  of  the  picture,  while  in 
the  background  are  seen  the  high  factory  buildings,  railroad  trains,  mine 
and  smelter,  with  the  city  in  the  dim  distance. 

During  the  Exposition  season,  when  occasion  demanded,  souvenir  badges 
of  fanciful  design  were  issued  by  the  management,  but  most  of  the  less  pre- 
tentious badges  and  buttons  were  patterned  after  the  design  of  the  official  seal. 


Souvenir  Coins 


F  the  States  participating  in  the  Trans-Mississippi 
and  International  Exposition  there  were  thirty- 
one,  nine  having  their  own  buildings,  while  the 
others  had  their  exhibits  on  display  in  the  main  buildings  of 
the  Grand  Court  and  other  portions  of  the  grounds.  The 
State  buildings  were  all  upon  the  bluff,  or'  east  tract,  artistically 
grouped  about  the  Horticultural  building,  or  along  and  facing 
the  shady  avenues,  overlooking  the  Grand  Court  to  the  west  and 
the  Missouri  river  to  the  east.  States  represented  with  buildings 
were :  Nebraska,  Iowa,  Illinois,  Minnesota,  Kansas,  Wisconsin, 
Montana,  New  York  and  Georgia.  Other  States  making  exhibits,  but 
which  did  not  have  buildings  of  their  own,  were:  Wyoming,  Nevada, 
California,  Arkansas,  Alabama,  Texas,  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota, 
Missouri,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Idaho,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Indian  Terri- 
tory, Oregon,  Colorado,  Washington,  Louisiana,  Utah,  Pennsylvania 
and  Massachusetts.  Generally  speaking,  the  buildings  were  for  rest  and 
comfort  and  for  meeting  places  for  the  visitors  from  the  respective  States, 
though  in  some  of  them  there  were  special  and  private  exhibits,  made  by 
societies  or  loaned. 

THE    NEBRASKA  BUILDING 

The  Exposition  being  held  in  Nebraska  and  in  Omaha,  the  metropolis  of 
the  State,  naturally  made  the  Nebraska  building  one  of  the  centers  of  interest. 
From  the  opening  until  the  closing  day  of  the  Exposition  it  housed  great 
throngs  of  people  and  was  visited  by  the  millions  who  were  on  the  grounds. 
Funds  for  the  construction  of  the  building  and  its  maintenance  were  appro- 
priated by  the  State,  the  total  amount  being  $100,000,  though  of  course  a 
portion  of  this  went  to  pay  for  gathering,  installing  and  caring  for  the  State 
exhibits  shown  in  the  other  buildings  on  the  grounds.  At  Lincoln,  Neb., 


158 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


January  13,  1897,  Dudley  Smith,  a  representative  from  Douglas  County,  intro- 
duced in  the  lower  house  of  the  Legislature,  then  in  session,  a  bill  providing  for 
the  appropriation  of  $350,000  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of  a  State  building 
on  the  grounds,  its  maintenance  and  the  gathering  of  samples  of  the  resources 
of  the  State.  It  also  provided  for  a  commission  and  the  fixing  of  the  compen- 
sation of  the  members.  On  that  day  the  bill  was  read.  The  following  day 
it  had  its  second  reading  and  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Ways  and 


NEBRASKA    BUILDING 

Means.  From  the  start  the  bill  met  with  considerable  opposition  in  the  Legisla- 
ture. When  it  came  up  on  second  reading,  it  was  made  the  special  order  for 
the  following  Tuesday.  At  that  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  Representative 
Charles  Wooster,  of  Merrick  County,  who  had  been  selected  to  lead  the 
opposition,  contended  that  the  Exposition  was  intended  to  be  purely  an  Omaha 
affair;  that  the  people  of  Nebraska  were  opposed  to  the  Exposition  idea;  that 
an  Exposition  would  be  a  damage  rather  than  a  benefit  to  the  State,  because 
it  would  exhaust  the  funds  needed  for  other  purposes  and  because  in  attending 
it  the  people  would  spend  money  that  they  would  later  need  for  necessities; 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  159 

that  it  would  be  a  bad  advertisement  for  the  State,  as  it  would  show  to  the 
world  a  disposition  to  waste  money  instead  of  husbanding  it  to  pay  off  State 
debts;  that  the  State  treasury  was  empty,  taxes  too  high  and  property 
depreciating  in  value;  because  all  of  the  directors  had  refused  to  adopt  a  reso- 
lution demanded  by  organized  labor,  and  lastly  because  it  was  "a  scheme  gotten 
up  by  and  for  the  benefit  of  Omaha  bankers."  The  contentions  were  com- 
bated by  G.  W.  Wattles,  President  of  the  Exposition,  and  by  G.  M.  Hitch- 
cock, then  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Promotion,  both  of  whom  had  been  invited 
to  appear  at  the  joint  session  and  enlighten  the  members  upon  the  scope  and 
purpose  of  the  proposed  Exposition.  February  19  an  attempt  was  made  to 
advance  the  bill  and  get  it  to  the  head  of  the  general  file,  but  it  was  defeated  by 
a  vote  of  55  to  38,  sixty-seven  votes  in  the  affirmative  being  required.  Repre- 
sentative Windslow,  of  Gosper  County,  offered  an  amendment  to  defer  further 
action  until  after  the  passage  of  the  appropriation  bills.  This  was  defeated  by 
a  vote  of  57  to  36.  The  matter  hung  in  the  balance  until  February  23,  when, 
in  committee  of  the  whole,  the  bill  came  up  for  discussion.  The  original  bill  was 
read,  after  which  Speaker  Gaffin  offered  a  substitute,  cutting  the  appropriation 
from  $350,000  to  $200,000  and  making  some  minor  changes  in  the  method 
of  handling  and  disposing  of  the  money.  Windslow  moved  that  the  original 
bill  and  the  substitute  be  reported  back  to  the  House  with  recommendations 
that  the  whole  matter  be  indefinitely  postponed.  This  was  seconded  by  Jenkins, 
of  Jefferson  County,  but  on  a  vote  was  defeated.  After  an  all-night  session, 
at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  the  bill  was  amended  by  making  the  appro- 
priation $100,000,  no  portion  to  be  available  until  at  least  $250,000  had  been 
paid  in  by  the  Omaha  stockholders,  this  amendment  having  been  made  by 
Billings  of  Keya  Paha  County.  March  5  the  bill  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of 
70  to  20,  and  on  March  12  it  got  to  the  Senate,  where  Murphy,  of  Gage 
County,  offered  an  amendment,  increasing  the  appropriation  from  $100,000  to 
$150,000.  At  the  same  session  Canaday,  of  Kearney  County,  offered  an  amend- 
ment to  reduce  the  appropriation  to  $50,000.  The  following  day,  when  the  bill 
came  up,  the  Murphy  and  Canaday  amendments  were  rejected  and  the  bill 
appropriating  $100,000  passed  by  a  vote  of  25  to  4.  It  was  then  hurried  back 
to  the  House  in  order  that  that  body  might  concur  in  some  slight  and  unimpor-- 
tant  amendments  made  by  the  Senate.  There  the  bill  was  held  for  several  days, 
after  which  the  amendments  were  concurred  in,  and  on  March  25  it  was 
approved  by  Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  bill 
the  Governor  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  State  Board  of  Exposition  Commis- 
sioners, one  from  each  Congressional  district.  This  he  did,  naming  H.  M. 
Boydston,  Nebraska  City,  first  district;  Martin  Dunham,  Omaha,  second  dis- 
trict ;  W.  A.  Poynter,  Albion,  third  district ;  C.  D.  Casper,  David  City,  fourth 


160 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


William  Neville 


district;  W.  M.  Button,  Hastings,  fifth  district,  and  William  Neville,  North 
Platte,  sixth  district.  May  29  the  Commission  met  informally  in  Omaha  and 
agreed  upon  William  Neville  as  president.  A 
few  days  later  Martin  Dunham  resigned  and 
C.  A.  Whitford,  of  Arlington,  was  appointed  to 
fill  the  vacancy.  July  10  the  Commission  met 
in  Omaha  and  organized  by  electing  William 
Neville,  president,  and  C.  D.  Casper,  secretary. 
Wednesday,  July  28,  the  Commission  held  its 
first  regular  meeting  and  decided  to  request  the 
architects  of  the  State  to  submit  plans  for  a 
Nebraska  building.  August  10  plans  were  sub- 
mitted and  examined,  and  two  days  later  those 
of  J.  H.  Craddock,  Lincoln,  and  John  McDonald, 
Omaha,  working  jointly,  were  accepted.  These 
plans  provided  for  the  construction  of  a  building 
along  the  lines  of  the  one  subsequently  erected  on 
the  Bluff  tract,  the  site  for  which  was  selected  August  26.  The  cost  of 
the  building  was  about  $22,000,  most  of  the  work  being  done  by  day  labor, 
only  Nebraska  men  being  employed.  From  an  architectural  point  of  view 
the  Nebraska  building  possessed  a  distinctive  character.  It  was  of  classic 
style,  closely  following  the  Ionic  order,  with  unconventional  detail.  There 
were  two  grand  entrances,  emphasized  by  pediments,  embellished  with 
statuary  and  the  great  seal  of  the  State.'  The  dimensions  were  90x145  feet. 

The  central  dome  was  a  striking  feature,  being 
sixty  feet  in  diameter,  octagonal  in  form  and 
rising  to  a  height  of  eighty-five  feet  from  the 
floor.  Beneath  this  dome  and  occupying  the 
central  portion  of  the  lower  floor  was  the  great 
assembly  room,  60x100  feet,  in  the  center  of 
which  was  a  large  fountain  filled  with  aquatic 
plants  of  Nebraska  growth  and  origin.  Off  the 
assembly  room  on  all  sides  were  smaller  rooms, 
which  were  used  for  parlors,  rest  rooms,  offices 
and  for  the  convenience  of  the  societies  of  the 
State,  as  well  as  headquarters  for  the  States 
that  did  not  have  buildings  of  their  own  on 
the  grounds.  The  second  story  had  a  gallery 
running  entirely  around  under  the  dome  and 
overlooking  the  assembly  room.  On  the  sides  of  the  building,  in  the  rear 
of  the  gallery,  were  fourteen  large  rooms  for  offices.  Over  each  of  the 


J.  H.  Craddock,  Architect 
Nebraska  Building 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  161 

entrances  to  the  building  and  opening  from  the  gallery,  were  open  balconies 
for  the  use  of  the  public,  while  above  these  and  reached  by  stairways  from  the 
main  gallery,  were  band  galleries.  These  stairways  also  led  to  the  roof,  where 
a  promenade  was  provided.  At  each  corner  of  the  central  portion  of  the  build- 
ing were  small  pavilions  rising  from  the  roof.  Wings  extended  on  two  sides 
of  the  central  portion  of  the  building,  each  wing  being  forty  feet  in  length. 
The  wings  had  flat  roofs,  the  cornice  being  thirty-two  feet  from  the  ground 
and  surmounted  by  a  balustrade  with  masts  for  pennants.  Although  not 
designed  as  a  place  for  exhibits,  the  building  contained  a  large  collective 
exhibit  by  the  Nebraska  Historical  Society  and  another  most  interesting 
exhibit  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  besides  several  educa- 
tional exhibits,  made  by  schools  of  the  State.  The  dedicatory  exercises 
occurred  June  14.  The  events  of  the  occasion  are  described  in  another 
chapter. 

MINNESOTA 

On  the  Exposition  grounds  Minnesota  reared  a  structure  that  was  at  once 
unique  and  creditable  to  the  State.  It  occupied  a  position  on  the  Bluff  tract, 
just  to  the  south  of  the  Nebraska  building,  and  faced  the  west.  Unlike  other 
buildings,  the  one  erected  by  Minnesota  was  typical  of  life  in  the  pine  forests 
of  the  North,  having  been  constructed  entirely  of  pine  logs  in  their  natural  con- 
dition, shipped  here  from  the  pineries  to  the  north  of  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis. 
The  Legislature  of  Minnesota  failed  to  make  an  appropriation  for  the  erection 
of  a  building  at  the  Exposition,  but  the  enter- 
prising citizens  of  the  State,  seeing  the  necessity 
of  being  represented,  called  the  matter  to  the 
attention  of  Governor  Clough,  who  appointed 
the  following  commission  :  J.  L.  Gibbs,  Geneva ; 
Frank  H.  Peavey,  J.  M.  Anderson,  E.  L.  Dan- 
forth,  E.  G.  Patter,  J.  H.  Seymour,  C.  W.  Fields, 
Minneapolis;  W.  D.  Kirk,  T.  L.  Schurmeier, 
G.  L.  Finch,  W.  J.  Footner,  R.  A.  Kirk, 
Conde  Hamlin,  Charles  P.  Noyes,  St.  Paul; 

E.  J.  Pheeps,  W.  W.  Heffelfinger,  L.  C.  Prior, 

F.  R.  Salisburg,  J.  Newton  Nind,  F.  B.  Dough- 
erty, C.  H.  Graves,  A.  D.  Thompson,  J.  L.  Great- 
singer,  Charles  A.  Duncan,  W.  J.  Olcott,  Duluth ; 

V.   Simpson,  F.  A.   Gratside,  W.  H.  Garlock,  Gov'  D"  M"  Clough 

Winona;  A.  T.  Stebbins,  Rochester;  Hudson  Wilson,  Faribault;  John  H. 
Rice,  Red  Wing;  N.  S.  Gordon,  Austin;  O.  H.  Myron,  Ada;  E.  G.  Valentine, 
Breckenridge;  M.  H.  Leland,  Wells;  E.  E.  Adams,  Fergus  Falls;  George 


162 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Pervis,  Crookston;  John  L.  Bernard,  Pipestone;  George  T.  Barr,  Mankato. 
This  commission  was  clothed  with  power  to  devise  ways  and  means  for 
raising  money  and  making  a  State  exhibit.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
commission  John  L.  Gibbs  was  elected  president;  R.  A.  Kirk,  vice-president; 
W.  D.  Kirk,  treasurer,  and  E.  L.  Danforth,  secretary.  It  was  decided 
to  have  a  State  building,  and  the  work  of  securing  subscriptions  was  taken 
up.  With  the  implied  understanding  that  the  next  Legislature  would 
reimburse  them,  prominent  men  of  the  State  signed  notes  for  $30,000. 


Minnesota  Building 

These  notes  were  taken  by  the  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  banks,  and  the 
question  of  finance  was  disposed  of.  How  to  build  was  the  problem,  but 
Commissioner  Nind  came  to  the  rescue  and  suggested  a  log  house,  typical 
of  and  representing  life  in  the  forests.  The  idea  was  adopted,  and  McLeod 
&  Lamoreaux,  architects,  of  Minneapolis,  were  employed  to  work  out  the 
plans.  Everything  used  in  the  construction  of  the  building  except  the  hardware 
and  the  glass  was  the  product  of  Minnesota. 

The  Minnesota  building  was  60x70  feet,  two  stories  high.  Running 
entirely  around  were  two  balconies,  one  at  each  story.  They  were  twenty 
feet  wide  and  faced  with  a  railing  two  and  one-half  feet  high.  All  of  the 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  163 

material  was  donated,  the  logs  and  lumber  by  the  pinery  and  mill  men  and  the 
stone  by  the  owners  of  the  quarries  of  the  State.  The  logs  were  as  straight  as 
arrows,  twelve  to  fourteen  inches  in  diameter,  notched  at  the  ends,  so  that 
when  in  place  they  lay  close  together.  The  hip  roof  was  extended  with  eaves 
and  cornices  six  feet  wide.  On  the  first  floor  of  the  building  there  were  three 
large  rooms.  The  one  first  entered  was  a  large  reception  room,  supplied  with 
plenty  of  easy  chairs  and  settees,  while  upon  the  floor  were  numerous  soft  and 
rich  rugs.  To  the  right  was  the  parlor,  a  large  room  in  which  there  were 
many  easy  chairs  and  the  other  necessaries  lending  comfort  and  enjoyment. 
The  feature  of  the  building  was  the  men's  room  to  the  north.  It  was  fitted  and 
furnished  to  represent  life  in  a  logging  camp  and  was  in  striking  contrast  with 
the  other  rooms  on  the  main  floor.  On  the  north  wall  there  was  a  large  fire- 
place constructed  of  Mankato  stone,  while  above  and  around  it  hung  guns, 
powder-horns  and  all  of  the  necessaries  used  by  hunters.  Upon  the  walls  were 
skins  and  furs  of  animals  of  Minnesota.  There  were  deer,  moose,  elk  and 
antelope  heads,  all  mounted,  and  also  the  head  of  a  large  buffalo.  Instead  of 
easy  chairs,  there  were  pine  benches,  rough  pine  tables,  and  in  the  primitive 
cupboard  on  the  wall  were  dishes  such  as  the  lumberman  would  use  in  serving 
a  bachelor  meal.  The  main  stairway  to  the  second  floor  was  from  the  reception 
room.  At  the  first  landing  there  was  a  memorial  window,  the  handiwork  of 
Miss  Graves,  of  Minneapolis.  The  central  piece  was  an  Indian  clothed  in 
raiment  of  bright  colors.  He  appeared  to  be  resting  from  the  fatigue  of  the 
chase  and  looking  out  over  the  surrounding  country,  observing  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  white  men.  Smaller  windows  at  either  side  bore  the  representa- 
tion of  the  coat-of-arms  and  the  seal  of  the  State.  At  the  landing  the  stairs 
divided  and  turned  to  the  right  and  left,  reaching  the  second  floor,  on  which 
was  a  large  reception  room  and  rooms  for  the  officers  in  charge  of  the  build- 
ing. On  this  floor  there  were  many  easy  chairs  and  sofas,  making  it  an  ideal 
resting  place.  Around  the  balcony  there  were  scores  of  porch  chairs  of  rustic 
construction,  placed  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  guests.  The  building  was 
dedicated  with  appropriate  exercises  July  20,  large  delegations  from  Minne- 
sota being  present.  The  exhibits  of  Minnesota  were  in  the  Mines  and  Mining 
building,  the  Agricultural,  the  Manufactures  and  the  Dairy,  the  State  occupy- 
ing 1000  square  feet  of  space,  showing  iron  and  copper  ores,  grains  of  all 
kinds,  lumber  and  the  products  of  the  forest,  grasses,  manufactured  goods, 
and  dairy  output,  respectively.  In  the  Dairy  building,  Minnesota  made 
seventy-four  exhibits,  the  largest  number  of  any  State  represented  at  the 
Exposition.  In  the  Apiary  building  the  State  occupied  an  unusual  amount 
of  space. 


164 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


IOWA 

The  Iowa  State  building  was  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bluff  tract 
facing  an  open  court  and  almost  directly  west  of  the  Nebraska  building.  The 
money  for  construction,  maintenance  and  for  making  the  State  exhibit, $35,000. 
was  appropriated  by  the  Legislature.  The  main  part  of  the  building  was  two 
stories  high  and  56x90  feet,  while  on  either  side  was  an  elliptical  porch, 
19  feet  wide  and  270  feet  long.  This  porch,  or  rather  the  two  porches, 
ended  in  enlarged  octagonal  pavilions  33  feet  in  diameter.  The  roof  of  the 
porches  was  supported  by  Corinthian  columns  and  the  style  of  architecture  of 
the  building  was  known  as  composite.  While  Iowa  had  large  and  comprehen- 
sive exhibits  in  the  main  buildings  of  the  Exposition,  some  private  collections, 
school  work  and  the  exhibits  of  societies  were  shown  in  the  State  building. 
The  main  central  portion  of  the  lower  floor  was  set  aside  for  a  reception  room 
and  a  place  for  the  congregating  of  Iowa  people  and  their  friends.  The  offices 
were  to  the  south  and  the  parlors  to  the  north.  On  the  second  floor,  reached 
by  a  broad  stairway,  were  a  number  of  private  rooms  for  the  convenience  of 

the  officials  and  their  guests.  There  were  also 
a  couple  of  rooms  on  this  floor  where  the  handi- 
work of  Iowa  artists  was  shown.  The  large 
covered  porches  were  supplied  with  easy  chairs 
and  settees,  furnishing  a  comfortable  resting 
place  for  Exposition  visitors.  On  the  lawns  in 
front  and  on  the  sides  of  the  building  consider- 
able attention  was  paid  to  flower  culture.  The 
commission  having  charge  of  the  Iowa  work 
was  composed  of  S.  H.  Mallory,  president, 
Chariton;  S.  H.  Packard,  Marshalltown ;  John 
H.  Waubank,  Mount  Pleasant;  S.  D.  Cook, 
Davenport;  J.  E.  E.  Markley,  Mason  City;  R.  H. 
Moore,  Ottumwa;  Allen  Dawson,  Des  Moines; 
George  E.  McCoid,  treasurer,  Logan;  Owen 
Lovejoy,  Jefferson;  A.  W.  Erwin,  Sioux  City;  F.  N.  Chase,  secretary. 
Cedar  Falls.  The  agricultural  and  horticultural  exhibits  of  Iowa  were  con- 
sidered among  the  best  at  the  Exposition  and  were  among  the  largest.  Being 
close  to  Omaha,  growers  of  grain  and  fruit  contributed  frequently  and  abun- 
dantly. Besides  this,  the  members  of  the  commission  were  constantly  on  the 
alert  to  secure  and  exhibit  the  best  products  that  could  be  found  in  the  State. 

Iowa  was  the  first  State  to  make  an  appropriation  for  the  Exposition. 
As  early  as  March,  1896,  its  General  Assembly  passed  a  bill  appropriating  ten 
thousand  dollars,  which  Governor  Francis  M.  Drake  approved  the  following 


S.   H.   Mallory 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits 


165 


month.  The  bill  provided  that  the  executive  council  of  the  State,  consisting  of 
Governor  Drake,  Auditor  C.  G.  McCarthy,  Treasurer  John  Herriott  and  Sec- 
retary of  State  George  L.  Dobson,  should  appoint  a  commission  to  prepare 
an  Iowa  exhibit  as  soon  as  the  National  Government  recognized  the  enterprise. 
The  commission  was  selected  soon  after  Congress  took  action,  and  it  met  in 
May,  1897,  at  the  call  of  the  Governor,  and  organized  as  follows:  ex-State 
Senator  S.  H.  Mallory,  a  prominent  Chariton  banker  and  railroad  contractor, 


Iowa  Building 

who  was  made  chairman  of  the  Iowa  Commission  of  the  World's  Columbian 
Exposition  at  Chicago,  president;  Allen  Dawrson,  editor  of  the  Des  Moines 
Leader,  vice-president;  George  W.  McCoid,  an  extensive  farmer  and  stock 
breeder  at  Logan,  treasurer,  and  Frank  N.  Chase,  of  Cedar  Falls,  secretary. 
Mr.  Chase  had  been  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for  twenty-six 
years  and  was  the  secretary  of  the  Iowa  Commission  at  the  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion. He  was  also  in  charge  of  Iowa's  agricultural  display  at  the  New 
Orleans  Exposition  in  1884,  and  the  next  year  was  sent  by  Governor  Sherman 
as  Iowa's  representative  to  the  "Three  Americas'  "  Exposition  at  New  Orleans. 
At  Atlanta  he  was  the  special  agent  of  his  State.  To  Mr.  Chase  the  commis- 


166  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

sion  turned  over  the  general  superintendency  of  the  agricultural,  horticultural 
and  dairy  exhibits  at  Omaha,  but  as  his  onerous  position  necessitated  his  entire 
personal  attention  and  allowed  no  time  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  commis- 
sion, Captain  John  H.  Merry,  assistant  general  passenger  agent  for  Iowa  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railway,  was  appointed  on  the  commission  from  Mr.  Chase's 
district,  and  to  him  was  turned  over  the  transportation  branch  of  the  com- 
mission's work.  The  executive  committee  of  the  commission  was  composed 
of  Hon.  S.  B.  Packard,  formerly  Governor  of  Louisiana;  S.  D.  Cook,  of  the 
Davenport  Republican,  and  R.  H.  Moore,  of  the  Ottumwa  Democrat.  The 
remainder  of  the  commission  was  appointed  an  auditing  committee,  namely: 
John  H.  Wallbank,  Mount  Pleasant;  J.  E.  E.  Markley,  Mason  City;  Owen 
Lovejoy,  Jefferson,  and  A.  W.  Erwin,  Sioux  City. 


H.  S.  Josselyn  E.  H.  Taylor 

ARCHITECTS  IOWA  BUILDING 

The  commission  and  Secretary  Chase  set  to  \vork  immediately  to  see 
what  could  be  done  to  give  Iowa  the  showing  due.  It  was  felt  that  not  much 
could  be  accomplished  with  so  small  an  appropriation  as  $10,000,  and 
an  agitation  was  started  looking  to  an  additional  appropriation  by  the  next 
Legislature.  At  the  suggestion  of  the  department  of  promotion  of  the  Exposir- 
tion,  members  of  the  Iowa  commission  visited  Omaha  in  person,  returning 
elated  over  the  prospects  of  the  Exposition.  They  found  everything  far 
beyond  what  they  had  been  expecting,  and  they  so  rqDorted  to  the  executive 
council.  A  schedule  of  what  Iowa  should  have  at  Omaha  was  formulated  by 
the  commission  and  submitted  to  the  executive  council,  the  estimates  given 
amounting  to  $57,000.  It  was  hoped  that  when  the  next  Legislature  con- 
vened it  would  appropriate  $25,000  additional  at  least.  Among  the  things  the 
commission  had  in  view  was  a  fine  building  for  the  State's  exclusive  use, 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  167 

together  with  a  complete  exhibit  of  the  agricultural,  horticultural  and  dairy 
resources  of  the  State  for  the  general  buildings  of  the  Exposition.  In  due 
time  a  bill  for  a  second  appropriation  of  $35,000  was  passed,  but  not  until 
after  about  one  hundred  members  of  the  Legislature  had  visited  Omaha  and 
had  seen  for  themselves  what  was  being  done. 

COUNCIL  BLUFFS  AND  POTTAWATTAMIE  COUNTY 

In  a  large  wigwam  was  placed  the  exhibit  of  Pottawattamie  County.  It 
was  eighty-three  feet  high  and  was  surmounted  by  a  thirty-foot  flag-staff, 
from  which  "Old  Glory"  proudly  waved  day  and  night,  rain  or  shine,  during 
the  Exposition.  It  was  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  in  circumference  and 
contained  four  stories,  which  were  reached  from  the  center  of  the  building  by 
a  handsome  wide  stairway.  The  windows  were  built  in  imitation  of  the  open- 
ings peculiar  to  the  red  man's  tepee,  and  the  entire  building  was  covered  with 
heavy  ducking  painted  to  represent  the  skins  of  which  the  Indians  of  the 
plains  were  wont  to  construct  their  abiding  places.  The  first  floor  was  devoted 
to  exhibits,  the  second  to  the  fruit  and  horticultural  display  of  Pottawattamie 
County,  the  third  reserved  as  a  parlor  and  waiting  rooms  for  the  women  and 
children,  and  the  fourth  was  a  smoking  room  for  the  men,  and  from  this  floor, 
which  was  plentifully  supplied  with  windows,  a  magnificent  view  of  the  entire 
Exposition  could  be  obtained.  The  idea  of  the  wigwam  was  conceived  and 
carried  into  successful  execution,  in  spite  of  what  appeared  at  first  to  be  insur- 
mountable obstacles,  by  the  Council  Bluffs  Exposition  Association.  This 
association  was  the  outcome  of  a  mass  meeting  held  in  July,  1897,  in  the  City 
Hall  of  Council  Bluffs,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  an  organization  to  arrange 
for  a  representative  exhibit  of  the  products  and  resources  of  Pottawattamie 
County  at  the  Exposition.  On  August  12,  1897,  the  association  was  formed 
and  an  executive  committee  of  fifty  representative  citizens  chosen  by  a  popular 
vote  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  the  organization.  The  idea  of  Pottawattamie 
County  having  a  building  of  its  own  at  the  Exposition  was  suggested  and 
met  with  approval.  To  Victor  E.  Bender,  one  of  the  executive  committee, 
belongs  the  credit  of  the  idea  of  the  wigwam,  or  large  Indian  tepee,  as  it  was 
he  who  conceived  and  suggested  the  appropriateness  of  such  a  structure,  as 
Council  Bluffs  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  seat  of  councils 
between  the  Indians  when  they  were  the  only  inhabitants  of  the  country  little 
more  than  half  a  century  previous.  The  funds  to  erect  the  building  were 
secured  by  popular  subscription,  aided  by  a  donation  of  $2,000  from  the  county 
fund  by  the  Board  of  County  Supervisors.  In  all,  about  three  thousand 
dollars  were  collected  by  subscriptions  from  the  citizens  and  business  men  of 


168 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Council  Bluffs.  In  addition,  about  five  thousand  dollars  were  raised  by 
selling  wigwam  buttons.  The  officers  of  the  Council  Bluffs  Exposition  Asso- 
ciation were:  President,  A.  C.  Graham;  vice-president,  Dr.  J.  H.  Cleaver; 
secretary,  C.  H.  Judson;  treasurer,  E.  W.  Hart. 

KANSAS 

The  Kansas  building,  directly  south  of  the  Nebraska  building,  was  erected 
at  a  cost  of  $18,000.  In  securing  money  to  erect  the  building  and  make  the 
exhibit,  three  of  the  railroads  agreed  to  subscribe  $5,000  each,  providing  the 
citizens  of  the  State  would  subscribe  a  like  sum.  This  offer  was  accepted  and 
gave  Kansas  $30,000  for  exposition  purposes.  The  site  for  the  building  was 
selected  April  7,  work  of  construction  commenced  May  i,  and  on  June  22 
the  structure  was  dedicated.  Like  all  of  the  State  buildings,  except  those  of 
Minnesota  and  Montana,  it  was  covered  with  staff.  The  architectural  idea 
followed  the  old  California  mission  style  to  quite  an  extent.  The  central  or 
main  portion  was  two  stories  high,  with  a  one-story  addition  to  the  south. 
On  the  east,  north  and  west  sides  an  arched  and  deeply  recessed  balcony  was 
constructed.  Around  the  front  of  the  balcony  was  an  ornamental  railing, 
the  space  between  this  and  the  upper  story  of  the  main  building  being  used  for 
a  promenade.  The  size  of  the  building,  over  all,  was  55x57  feet.  The  main 
room  of  the  lower  floor  was  32  feet  square  and  was  used  for  rest,  comfort  and 


Gov.  George  W.  Click 


John  E.  Frost 


reception  purposes.  Opening  from  this  were  offices,  cloak  and  private  rooms. 
The  walls  of  the  assembly  rooms  were  hung  with  oil  paintings,  showing 
Kansas  farm  and  commercial  scenes.  The  second  floor  was  reached  by  a  broad 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits 


169 


and  easy  stairway.  On  this  floor  the  central  portion  was  an  arcade,  extending 
from  the  lower  floor  to  the  roof.  Opening  from  this  were  several  rooms  where 
exhibits  were  shown.  They  consisted  chiefly  of  work  in  the  public  schools  of 


John  F.  Stanton 


C.  A.  Fellows 


the  State;  maps  of  different  counties,  showing  the  products,  yield  and  value. 
There  was  also  a  large  collective  exhibit  of  photographs  portraying  life  on 
the  Kansas  farms  and  in  the  rural  districts.  Kansas  did  not  attempt  to 
demonstrate  in  its  own  building  the  resources  of  the  State,  but  for  this  pur- 
pose in  the  Mines  and  Mining  building,  it  occupied  960  square  feet;  in  the 
Agricultural  building,  720  square  feet;  in  the  Liberal  Arts  building,  640 
square  feet  and  in  the  Horticultural  building,  378  square  feet.  The  commis- 
sion that  had  charge  of  the  interests  of  Kansas  and  was  instrumental  in 
having  the  State  represented  at  Omaha  consisted  of :  George  W.  Click,  presi- 
dent, Atchison;  A.  H.  Grief,  secretary,  Pittsburg;  A.  W.  Smith,  McPherson; 
John  E.  Frost,  Topeka,  and  A.  C.  Lamb,  Wellington. 


Kansas  State  Building 


170 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


MONTANA 

The  Montana  building  was  a  two-story  plain  structure,  60x75  feet> 
constructed  of  wood.  The  building  was  located  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bluff 
tract,  just  south  of  the  main  wagon  gate.  The  contract  for  construction  was 
awarded  February  27,  1898.  It  was  completed  June  10,  and  dedicated  June 
29.  A  small  tower  surmounted  the  northeast  corner.  The  lower  floor 
was  divided  into  offices  and  parlors,  with  a  large  reception  room  just  to 
the  left  of  the  entrance.  The  upper  story  was  reached  by  a  stairway  leading 
up  from  the  reception  room.  The  upper  floor  was  cut  up  into  offices  and 
sleeping  rooms,  which  were  occupied  by  the  officials  in  charge.  The  furnishings 
were  all  costly  and  in  keeping  with  the  building.  In  many  respects  the  build- 
ing resembled  a  well-appointed  club  house.  The  decorations  were  mostly 
loaned  by  the  millionaire  mine  owners  of  the  State  and  consisted  of  magnifi- 
cent paintings,  mounted  heads  of  buffalo,  elk  and  moose,  besides  a  number 
of  mounted  animals,  such  as  deer,  antelope,  mountain  sheep  and  a  large  col-- 
lection of  birds  of  the  State. 
The  Legislature  of  Montana 
appropriated  $15,000  that 
the  State  might  participate  in 
the  Exposition,  and  Marcus 


W.  H.  Suthcrlin 

Daly  gave  a  like  sum,  which 
was  placed  under  the  control 
of  the  commission,  consisting 
of  W.  H.  Sutherlin,  presi- 
dent ;  A.  J.  Seligman,  Helena ; 
Marcus  Daly,  Anaconda; 


Montana  Building 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits 


111 


A.  L.  Babcock,  Billings;  W.  G.  Conrad,  Great  Falls;  W.  A.  Clarke, 
Butte;  J.  R.  Latimer,  Missoula;  W.  W.  Morris,  Piny.  Besides  having 
a  State  building,  Montana  occupied  2,000  square  feet  in  the  Mines  and  Mining 
building,  1,000  square  feet  in  the  Agricultural  building  and  1,000  square 
feet  in  the  Liberal  Arts  building. 

NEW   YORK 

The  New  York  building  occupied  a  location  to  the  east  of  Horticulture 
Hall,  and  was  one  of  the  most  artistic  of  the  State  structures.  It  cost  about 
$15,000,  the  money  for  its  erection  and  maintenance  having  been  provided 


New  York  State  Building 

for  by  contributions.  It  was  in  charge  of  Major  Wheeler,  a  representative  of 
the  State  commission,  \vhich  was  composed  of  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  John 
Jacob  Astor,  W.  Seward  Webb,  Henry  B.  Herbert,  Abel  E.  Blackman,  New 
York;  Charles  N.  Stowe,  Deposit;  Jacob  Amos,  Syracuse;  John  G.  Graves, 
Buffalo.  It  was  dedicated  October  8  upon  which  occasion  a  special  train 
brought  prominent  citizens  from  all  over  the  State,  members  of  the  New 
York  Board  of  Trade,  Produce  Exchange  and  Merchants'  Association.  The 
State  building  presented  the  appearance  of  a  two-story  center,  or  main  portion, 
but  was  in  reality  an  immense  room,  with  a  balcony  around  the  second  floor 
from  which  opened  some  small  rooms.  The  wings  on  the  sides  were  one 
story  and  contained  rooms  for  the  officers.  The  center  room  under  the 
dome  was  for  reception  purposes  and  for  rest.  The  floor  was  covered  with 
matting  and  rugs.  Easy  chairs  and  couches  were  scattered  about,  giving  the 
whole  interior  a  rich  and  restful  appearance.  Around  three  sides  of  the 
building  was  a  broad  portico  supported  by  Corinthian  columns,  while  on  top, 
the  front  protected  by  a  balustrade,  was  a  promenade.  The  style  of  the  build- 
ing was  of  the  classic  order. 


172 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


GEORGIA 

Although  there  was  no  public  appropriation  of  funds  for  Exposition 
purposes,  Georgia  had  one  of  the  most  complete  and  comprehensive  exhibits 
on  the  grounds.  It  was  shown  in  the  Georgia  State  building  on  the  Bluff 
tract,  immediately  west  of  the  Horticulture  building.  Funds  for  the  construc- 
tion of  the  building,  $10,000,  and  for  the  collection  and  maintenance  of  the 

exhibit  were  contributed  by  the  citizens  and 
corporations  of  the  State,  interest  being  worked 
up  by  the  commission,  composed  of  W.  J. 
Northen,  president;  E.  F.  Blodgett,  secretary; 
George  C.  Smith,  C.  E.  Harman,  F.  H.  Rich- 
ardson, J.  S.  B.  Thompson,  Governor  W.  Y. 
Atkinson,  Atlanta;  J.  F.  DeLacy,  Eastman; 
Edwin  Brobston,  Brunswick;  W.  A.  Knowles, 

^^flfi  ^^^        Rome;    Thomas    K.    Scott,    Augusta;    George 

Ketchum,  J.  F.  Hanson,  Macon ;  H.  M.  Conner, 
P.  A.  Stovall,  Savannah.  The  Georgia  building 
was  of  staff  construction,  square,  two  stories 
high  and  surmounted  by  a  dome  of  the  Byzantine 
order,  adding  greatly  to  its  appearance.  The 
front  elevation  was  massive,  jutting  out  some 
distance  from  the  main  structure,  thus  forming  a  deeply  recessed  entrance  on 
the  first  and  a  large  covered  balcony  on  the  second  floor,  which  was  orna- 
mented with  a  balustrade  and  large  fluted  columns  on  either  side.  The  wings 
to  the  north  and  south  of  the  central  portion  of  the  building  set  back  some 
six  feet  from  the  front,  this  space  being  converted  into  porticoes  used  for  rest- 
ing places.  During  the  Exposition  the  building  was  in  charge  of  W.  J. 
Northen,  a  former  Governor  and  an  old  resident  of  the  State,  one  of  the  men 
who  was  instrumental  in  having  Georgia  represented.  The  lower  floor  of  the 
building  was  entirely  taken  up  by  the  lumber,  mineral  and  stone  exhibit, 
which  was  complete,  almost  every  kind  of  known  building  material  and 
minerals  being  shown.  On  the  second  floor  the  agricultural  and  horticultural 
resources  of  the  State  were  shown.  Cotton  was  one  of  the  chief  exhibits,  it 
being  displayed  in  many  and  varied  forms.  There  was  the  seed,  the  meal,  oil, 
cake,  the  growing  plant  in  bloom  and  ready  for  the  pickers;  it  was  seen 
in  bales  from  the  compress  and  manufactured  into  the  coarsest  and  finest 
cloths.  Besides  this,  there  was  an  extensive  exhibit  of  fruits,  both  canned 
and  dried.  There  were  grains,  such  as  corn,  wheat,  oats,  rye  and  barley  in 
the  sheaf  and  the  berry  in  glass  jars.  Fertilizers  that  are  products  of  the 
State  were  shown  in  profusion.  The  educational  exhibit  was  extensive,  giving 


Gov.  W.  J.  Northen 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits 


173 


Georgia  Building 

an  idea  of  what  the  State  has  done  in  the  way  of  educating  its  young  people, 
both  white  and  colored.  The  offices  of  President  Northen  and  his  assistants, 
located  on  the  second  floor,  were  always  open,  and  the  public  was  cordially 

welcomed. 

WISCONSIN 

The  Wisconsin  building  was  considered  one  of  the  most  beautiful  State 
buildings  on  the  Bluff  tract.  It  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $15,000,  the  money 
being  raised  by  contributions,  as  the  State  did  not  make  an  appropriation. 
The  style  of  architecture  was  classic  and  was  most  pleasing.  The  entrance 
was  reached  by  nine  broad  steps,  which  placed  the  structure  considerably 
above  the  street  level.  The  architrave  of  the  pediment  was  supported  by  four 
immense  fluted  Corinthian  columns,  which  formed  the  main  entrance.  The 
angles  of  the  building  were  flanked  on  either  side  by  pilasters  of  the  Corinthian 
order,  which  on  the  side  walls  were  doubled.  Beneath  the  cornice  and  extend- 
ing along  the  wall  between  the  inner  pilasters,  with  a  depth  of  five  to  six  feet, 
was  a  frescoed  frieze,  showing  some  of  the  more  important  features  of  the 
State's  history.  Nearly  the  entire  interior  was  embraced  in  one  large  space 
open  in  the  center  to  the  roof  and  lighted  through  a  dome.  There  was  a 


174 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


balcony  on  the  second  floor  which  commanded  a  view  of  the  main  floor.    Back 
of   this    were    several    rooms    for   offices,    where   a    number   of   private   art 

collections  were  shown.  On  the  first  or  main 
floor,  on  either  side  of  the  central  court,  were 
public  comfort  and  rest  rooms.  In  the  grand 
central  rotunda  under  the  dome,  potted  and 
spreading  foliage  plants  abounded  in  great 
profusion,  arranged  about  a  fountain,  which 
constantly  threw  a  spray  of  pure,  clear  water 
over  and  among  them.  The  furnishings  of  the 
room  were  very  luxurious,  a  grand  piano  making 
the  interior  inviting  and  a  popular  place  for  rest 
and  assembly.  The  building  was  dedicated  June 
1 8.  The  members  of  the  commission  who  raised 
the  money  that  made  it  possible  for  Wisconsin 
to  be  represented  at  the  Exposition  were :  John 
C.  Koch,  president;  Walter  W.  Pollock,  secre- 
tary; Mrs.  Caroline  Bell,  August  Uihlein,  John  E.  Hansen,  A.  C.  Clas, 
J.  A.  Watrous,  Ferdinand  Kieckhefer,  Mrs.  Caroline  H.  Bell,  W.  W. 


August  Uihlein 


Wisconsin  Building 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  175 

Pollock,  Milwaukee;  H.  D.  Fisher,  Florence;  W.  E.  Carpenter,  Waupaca, 
Ernest  Funk,  Mrs.  T.  B.  Goodrich,  Oconto;  Mrs.  Angus  Cameron,  La  Crosse; 
Mrs.  Leonard  Lottridge,  West  Salem;  Mrs.  John  Winans,  Janesville;  Miss 
Ella  Roberts,  Waukesha;  E.  E.  Bryant,  R.  G.  Thwaites,  Madison;  John 


A.  C.  Clas  Geo.  B.  Ferry 

ARCHITECTS    WISCONSIN    BUILDING 

Hicks,  Oshkosh;  Walter  Alexander,  Wausau;  W.  T.  Lewis,  Racine;  Isaac 
Stephenson,  Marinette;  J.  H.  Stout,  Menomonie;  J.  B.  Treat,  Monroe; 
Charles  H.  Baxter,  Lancaster;  Thomas  M.  Blackstock,  F.  A.  Dennett, 
Sheboygan. 

ILLINOIS 

Next  to  Nebraska,  the  appropriation  of  Illinois  for  Exposition  purposes 
was  the  largest  of  any  of  the  States  participating,  its  contribution  being  $45,- 
ooo,  of  which  over  $5,000  remained  unexpended.  Illinois  was  one  of  the 
first  States  to  become  interested  in  the  Exposition.  It  started  early,  and  as 
a  result,  its  building  was  completed  and  ready  for  occupancy  on  June  i, 
the  opening  day  of  the  Exposition,  although  it  was  not  dedicated  until  June 
21.  The  building  was  one  of  the  most  artistic  on  the  Bluff  tract  and  cost, 
when  furnished,  $22,500.  The  style  of  architecture  was  of  the  Greek  and 
Byzantine,  the  whole  tending  toward  the  Colonial.  The  main  portion  was  two 
stories  high,  66x136  feet,  crowned  with  a  large  dome  or  tower,  the  opening 
in  the  interior  extending  from  the  floor  to  the  roof  of  the  dome.  This  dome 
was  supported  by  a  number  of  immense  columns.  The  main  central  portion 
of  the  lower  floor  was  a  reception  room,  furnished  with  rich  and  costly  furni- 
ture, and  at  all  of  the  openings  were  hung  fine  draperies.  To  the  south  of 
the  reception  room  were  large  parlors,  elegantly  furnished.  To  the  north  were 


176 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


the  private  offices  of  Colonel  Hambleton,  secretary  of  the  commission,  officer 
in  charge,  and  private  reception  and  rest  rooms.  On  the  second  floor  were  a 
number  of  rest  rooms  and  private  rooms  for  the  officials.  In  the  annex  and 
connected  by  a  colonnade,  were  exhibited  the  famous  World's  Fair  pictures, 
painted  by  John  R.  Key.  The  Legislature  of  Illinois  in  1896-7  made  an 
appropriation  that  the  State  might  participate  in  the  Trans-Mississippi 
Exposition,  and  subsequently  Governor  John  R.  Tanner  named  a  commission 
as  follows:  James  A.  Block,  Carthage;  W.  B.  Brinton,  LaSalle;  Clark  E.  Carr, 
Galesburg;  E.  S.  Conway,  L.  O.  Goddard,  W.  H.  Harper,  F.  W.  Peck,  James 
P.  Whedon,  John  M.  Smyth,  Charles  A.  Mallory,  Chicago;  E.  C.  Craig, 
Mattoon;  LaFayette  Funk,  Bloomington;  C.  H.  Keeler,  Dixon;  Martin  King- 
man,  Peoria;  Lewis  H.  Minor,  Springfield;  Randolph  Smith,  Flora;  W.  H. 
Stead,  Ottawa;  O.  P.  Trahern,  Rockford;  George  W.  Wall,  DuQuoin;  C.  C. 
Williams,  Hoopeston.  September  16,  1897,  the  commission  met  in  Chicago 
and  organized  by  the  election  of  Clark  E.  Carr,  president;  E.  S.  Conway, 
first  vice-president;  F.  W.  Peck,  second  vice-president;  C.  C.  Hambleton, 
secretary;  W.  H.  Harper,  Martin  Kingman,  LaFayette  Funk,  C.  H.  Keeler, 
James  P.  Whedon,  John  M.  Smyth  and  Clark  E.  Carr,  executive  committee. 


Entrance  to  Illinois  Building 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits 


177 


Gov.  John  R.  Tanner 


Clark  E.  Carr 


Ferdinand  W.  Peck 


with  full  power  to  act.  October  19,  1897,  the  commission  visited  Omaha 
and  selected  the  site  for  the  State  building.  Two  special  days  were  assigned 
to  Illinois,  the  first  being  "Illinois  Day,"  June  21,  when  the  State  building 
was  dedicated,  and  "Chicago  Day,"  October  I.  On  "Illinois  Day,"  special 
trains  brought  Governor  Tanner,  his  staff  and  more  than  one  thousand  resi- 
dents of  the  State.  On  "Chicago  Day,"  the  metropolis  of  Illinois  was  rep- 
resented by  more  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  of  its  citizens,  including 
members  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  all  of  the  leading  clubs  of  the  city.  The 
State  made  two  exhibits,  occupying  60,000  square  feet,  over  one  hundred 
individuals,  companies  and  firms  taking  part.  In  the  live-stock  exhibit,  forty- 
two  horses,  forty-three  cattle,  forty-six  hogs  and  fifty-eight  sheep  were  shown. 
The  horticultural  exhibit  in  the  Horticultural  building  included  all  varieties 
of  fruits  in  their  season  and  attracted  marked  attention.  Besides  the  State 
exhibits,  there  were  extensive  displays  in  the  Manufactures  and  Liberal 
Arts  building,  by  firms  of  Chicago  and  other  cities. 

COLLECTIVE   EXHIBITS   OF   STATES 

Not  all  of  the  States  participating  in  the  Exposition  had  buildings  on  the 
grounds,  yet  all  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  region  had  exhibits  in  the  main 
buildings,  while  others  that  were  outside  and  in  the  far  east  and  west,  the 
north  and  the  extreme  south,  appointed  commissions,  the  members  of  which 
visited  Omaha  officially  during  the  summer  of  1898,  giving  the  Exposition 
the  stamp  of  their  approval.  Arkansas  did  not  make  an  appropriation,  yet  the 
business  men  of  Little  Rock  and  other  cities  collected  a  very  creditable  exhibit 
of  ores,  minerals,  grains  and  woods,  which  were  shown  in  the  Agricultural  and 
Mines  and  Mining  buildings.  The  work  was  undertaken  and  carried  on  by 


178  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

a  commission  composed  of  VV.  G.  Vincenheller,  president;  W.  D.  Mathews, 
secretary;  A.  C.  Hull,  George  R.  Brown,  Little  Rock;  W.  P.  Fletcher,  Lonoke; 
S.  C.  Dowell,  Walnut  Ridge;  H.  L.  Cross,  Bentonville;  J.  F.  Walker,  E.  M. 
Funk,  Rogers;  E.  P.  Hall,  Prairie  Grove;  R.  H.  James,  Mena;  J.  C.  Irbym, 
Newport;  A.  W.  Pool,  Ozark;  E.  T.  McConnell,  Clarksville;  L.  P.  Berry, 
Marion;  J.  P.  Butts,  Helena;  Emmet  Rogers,  Jonesboro;  A.  S.  Layton,  Yell- 
ville;  R.  B.  Weaver,  Rally  Hill;  H.  H.  Gallop,  Buffalo;  W.  T.  Hopper, 
Mountain  Home;  D.  S.  Helvern,  Mammoth  Spring;  J.  R.  Newman,  Harrison; 
Steve  Carrington,  Hope;  Eugene  Barkman,  Arkadelphia;  W.  M.  Price, 
Stuttgart;  X.  O.  Pendall,  Arkansas  City;  Rev.  J.  M.  Lucey,  H.  G.  Hanna, 
Pine  Bluff;  Thomas  Mathews,  Monticello;  J.  R..  B.  Moore,  Heber;  L.  H. 
Owens,  De  Valos  Bluff;  J.  C.  Yancey,  Batesville;  J.  T.  Pomeroy,  Eureka 
Springs;  W.  B.  Folsom,  Brinkley;  J.  R.  Harris,  Springdale;  A.  Bertig, 
Paragould;  L.  A.  Byrne,  Texarkana;  George  Sengal,  Fort  Smith. 

The  exhibit  of  Colorado  was  extensive,  planned,  arranged  for  and 
installed  by  the  people  of  the  State,  working  in  conjunction  with  the  com- 
mission appointed  by  the  Governor.  It  occupied  2,000  feet  in  the  Horticul- 
tural building,  where  fruits  of  all  kinds  were  constantly  on  display.  Colorado 
sent  a  carload  of  the  famous  Rocky  Ford  melons,  which  were  given  away 
under  the  direction  of  State  Senator  Swenck  on  "Melon  Day."  Besides  this, 
the  State  occupied  a  booth  in  the  Mines  and  Mining  building,  another  in  the 
Liberal  Arts  building  and  a  block  of  space  in  the  Apiary  building,  besides  hav- 
ing a  creditable  exhibit  by  the  Colorado  public  schools.  The  commission  was 
composed  of  Governor  Alva  H.  Adams,  president;  A.  F.  McDonald,  secretary, 
Prof.  Anton  Ellis,  Miss  Grace  E.  Patton,  E.  F.  Bishop,  John  H.  Barrett, 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Shute,  Charles  E.  Ward,  Denver;  C.  B.  Schmidt,  Pueblo;  Harvey 
A.  Lee,  Ouray;  Colonel  E.  R.  Goodell,  Leadville;  M.  L.  Allison,  Grand 
Junction;  J.  B.  Swan,  Loveland;  W.  J.  Bennett,  Saguache  County. 

The  State  appropriation  made  by  Idaho  was  sufficient  to  install  and  main- 
tain some  very  comprehensive  exhibits.  The  fruit  display  in  the  Horticultural 
building  was  one  of  the  best,  while  the  exhibit  of  grain,  wool  and  grasses  in 
the  Agricultural  building  attracted  much  attention.  The  commission  consisted 
of:  B.  P.  Shawhan,  president,  Payette;  R.  E.  Greene,  secretary,  Boise;  M.  B. 
Gwinn,  Caldwell;  James  Hutchinson,  Silver  City;  Edward  Richards,  Hailey; 
George  Chapin,  Idaho  Falls;  J.  H.  Murname,  Montpelier;  J.  P.  Clough, 
Salmon;  H.  B.  Campbell,  Wallace;  B.  F.  Morris,  Lewiston;  Joseph  Vincent, 
Kendrick. 

While  it  was  outside  of  the  Exposition  district,  Florida  recognized  the 
importance  of  the  enterprise  by  having  a  commission.  The  State  failed  to 
appropriate  funds  for  an  exhibit,  yet  many  of  the  members  of  the  commission 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  179 

visited  Omaha  during  the  progress  of  the  Exposition.  The  personnel 
of  the  commission  was:  George  W.  Wilson,  president,  Jacksonville;  Henry 
Curtis,  Quincy;  W.  W.  Decker,  Tarpon  Springs;  John  D.  Peabody,  Ozona; 
M.  R.  Marks,  Orlando;  W.  T.  Carter,  Frank  P.  Fleming,  C.  B.  Rogers, 
Jacksonville;  B.  L.  Porter,  Grand  Ridge;  George  W.  Scobie,  Titusville; 
J.  C.  S.  Timberlake,  Rockledge;  George  L.  Bryant,  Lakeland;  Erie  Van 
Axelson,  Laurie  Hill;  S.  B.  Thompson,  secretary,  Lake  City;  C.  K.  McQuarrie, 
DeFuniak  Springs;  W.  S.  Jordon,  Madison;  C.  A.  Danley,  Chipley. 


George  W.  Wilson,  Florida  Thomas  J.  Shryock,  Maryland 

Maryland  interested  itself  in  the  Exposition  and  an  effort  was  made  to 
secure  a  State  appropriation,  but  it  failed.  However,  the  Governor  appointed 
a  commission  and  the  Exposition  secured  considerable  advertising  thereby. 
The  commission  was:  T.  J.  Shryock,  president;  John  R.  Carter,  Charles  C. 
Homer,  A.  E.  Booth,  Mrs.  William  Reed,  Baltimore;  Harry  J.  Hopkins,  sec- 
retary, Annapolis;  Mrs.  Matthew  Markland,  Oakland;  Miss  Travers  C.  Davis, 
Miss  Lillie  Forwood,  BelAir;  J.  Edward  Abbott,  John  M.  Carver,  Jr.,  George 
D.  Dandwehn,  Annapolis. 

Although  Kentucky  did  not  make  an  exhibit,  a  commission  was 
named  and  it  did  much  in  the  way  of  advertising  the  Exposition.  This  com- 
mission was :  Mrs.  John  B.  Castleman,  Mrs.  James  F.  Buckner,  L.  G.  Murray, 
Louisville;  H.  B.  Hansford,  Somerset;  H.  H.  Houston,  Paducah;  Charles  H. 
Todd,  Owensboro;  C.  N.  McElroy,  Bowling  Green;  Charles  Blandford,  Bow- 
leyville;  E.  C.  Hopper,  Covington;  W.  R.  Smith,  Lexington;  G.  W.  Welch, 
Jr.,  Danville;  J.  P.  McCartney,  Flemingsburg;  E.  C.  O'Rear,  Mt.  Sterling. 

By  subscription  the  people  of  Missouri  raised  $17,000  for  Exposition 
purposes.  It  was  not  thought  that  this  was  sufficient  to  justify  the  expense  of 
the  construction,  so  the  entire  sum  was  expended,  under  the  direction  of  the 


180 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


commission,  in  making  an  exhibit  which  was  one  of  the  best  and  most  extensive 
on  the  grounds.  It  was  so  complete  that  it  won  a  large  number  of  medals. 
The  commission  in  charge  was  made  up  of:  F.  M.  Sterrett,  president;  H.  A. 


F.  M.  Sterrett 


Xenophon  P.  Wilfley 


Blossom,  Charles  A.  Lemp,  C.  H.  Spencer,  C.  P.  Walbridge,  George  D.  Rey- 
nolds, C.  D.  McClure,  F.  'E.  Marshall,  P.  J.  Toomey,  W.  H.  Phelps,  H.  R. 
Whitmore,  St.  Louis;  M.  V.  Carroll,  secretary,  Jefferson  City;  Colonel  John  A. 
Knott,  Hannibal;  John  H.  Carroll,  Unionville;  Ruben  Payne,  Milan;  W.  H. 
Mansur,  Chillicothe;  J.  C.  Evans,  North  Kansas  City;  E.  T.  Abbott,  L.  A. 
Vorhies,  R.  M.  Davis,  Frank  Freytag,  L.  C.  Byrne,  F.  W.  Maxwell,  Louis 
Hax,  A.  J.  Fleming,  St.  Joseph;  Dr.  J.  H.  Heclgpeth,  Jesse  H.  Davis,  Rock- 
port;  John  F.  Richards,  G.  M.  Walden,  George  W.  Fuller,  F.  G.  Graham,  P.  E. 
Mullins,  W.  W.  Morgan,  H.  J.  McGowan,  Kansas  City;  L.  A.  Goodinon, 
Westport;  J.  N.  Ballard,  Montrose;  C.  C.  Davidson,  El  Dorado  Springs;  J.  W. 
Baldwin,  J.  N.  Dailey,  Sedalia;  J.  D.  Tolson,  Fayette;  John  R.  Rippey, 
Columbia;  Jerre  Cravens,  John  O'Day,  G.  A.  Atwood,  Springfield;  H.  W. 
Ewing,  John  R.  Kirk,  Jefferson  City;  A.  S.  Houston,  Mexico;  J.  H.  Berkshire, 
Winona;  W.  W.  Ward,  Fredericktown ;  S.  A.  Stucker,  Carthage;  C.  M. 
Manker,  Webb  City;  J.  P.  Davidson,  Hannibal;  C.  C.  Rigger,  Laclede;  W.  J. 
Touse,  Monroe  City;  E.  E.  Aleshire,  Stanberry;  A.  F.  Murray,  Oregon; 
H.  E.  Wyatt,  Rockport;  F.  B.  Hearne,  Independence;  W.  H.  Allen,  Clinton; 
Willis  Humphrey,  Stockton;  Dr.  R.  H.  Jesse,  Columbia;  A.  Nelson,  Lebanon; 
Frank  Farris,  Steeleville;  A.  H.  Danforth,  Charleston;  C.  B.  Faris,  Caruthers- 
ville;  C.  A.  Emery,  Carthage;  William  D'avvson,  New  Madrid;  John  H. 
Taylor,  Joplin.  On  its  exhibits,  which  were  in  nearly  all  of  the  main 
buildings,  Missouri  took  thirty-three  medals  and  prizes.  In  the  Horticultural 
building  the  State  exhibit  was  one  of  the  largest.  In  the  Mines  and  Mining 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  181 

building  it  showed  coal,  iron,  zinc,  lead  and  numerous  varieties  of  building 
stone.  In  the  Agricultural  building  the  State  exhibit  attracted  universal 
attention,  as  the  display  of  grains  and  grasses  was  extensive,  covering  almost 
every  variety  of  farm  product.  The  booth  was  constructed  of  lumber  from 
the  State,  something  like  fifty  separate  and  distinct  kinds  being  used.  There 
was  also  a  display  of  educational  and  women's  work.  The  State  occupied 
some  10,000  square  feet  of  space. 

Arizona,  through  the  work  of  the  citizens,  raised  $10,000  with  which  to 
make  an  exhibit.  The  commission  appointed  by  the  Governor  consisted  of : 
T.  J.  Barkeley,  B.  Heyma,  Winfield  Scott,  Phoenix;  C.  R.  Drake,  J.  B. 
Breathitt,  Selim  Franklin,  Tucson;  W.  R.  Stowe,  Florence;  E.  B.  Gage,  F.  A. 
Tritle,  Prescott;  H.  J.  Allen,  Jerome;  J.  H.  Carpenter,  Yuma;  A.  F.  Patter,  St. 
Johns;  W.  R.  Campbell,  Winslow;  M.  J.  Egan,  Clifton;  Ben  Williams,  Ber- 
bee;  E.  H.  Cook,  Globe;  T.  A.  Riomian,  Flagstaff;  J.  R.  Halsey,  Kingman. 

New  Jersey  failed  to  make  an  exhibit,  or  open  headquarters  on  the 
grounds.  A  commission  consisting  of :  R.  M.  Floyd,  Eva  H.  Williams,  Jersey 
City;  E.  B.  Goddis,  Newark;  J.  H.  Blackwell,  Trenton;  J.  E.  Barbour,  Pater- 
son,  and  E.  C.  Hazard,  Shrewsbury,  was  appointed  but  was  unable  to  raise 
funds  for  an  exhibit. 

The  exhibit  from  New  Mexico  occupied  4,000  square  feet  in  the 
center  of  the  Mines  and  Mining  building.  There  was  a  display  of  grains 
and  grasses  and  dried  and  canned  fruits.  The  mineral  exhibit  was  the  chief 


L.  Bradford  Prince  Gov.  Miguel  A.  Otero 

attraction,  consisting  of  gold,  silver  and  copper,  besides  a  large  quantity  of  tur- 
quoise, both  in  the  rough  and  the  cut  and  polished  stones.  Aside  from  this  there 
was  an  exhibit  of  curios  dating  back  to  the  Aztec  period.  There  was  a 
bronze  bell  of  Spanish  manufacture,  secured  from  one  of  the  early  missions, 


182 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


probably  one  of  the  first  bells  that  ever  came  to  this  country.  The  State 
made  an  appropriation  for  the  exhibit,  and  this  was  increased  by  con- 
tributions. The  make-up  of  the  commission  was :  L.  B.  Prince,  president, 
S.  H.  Day,  Santa  Fe;  J.  T.  McLaughlin,  San  Pedro;  John  Morrow,  Raton; 
W.  S.  Hopewell,  Hillsboro;  W.  H.  H.  Llewellyn,  Las  Cruces;  J.  J.  Leeson, 
Socorro;  R.  W.  Tansill,  E.  O.  Faulkner,  Eddy;  E.  V.  Chaves,  Las  Lunas; 
Gus  Mulholland,  Gallop ;  T.  J.  Curran,  Albuquerque. 


H.  B.  Maxon,  Nevada 


C.  A.  Lounsberry,  North  Dakota 


The  only  exhibit  made  by  Nevada  was  in  the  Mines  and  Mining 
building,  where  1,000  square  feet  were  occupied.  A  very  complete  exhibit 
of  grains,  grasses,  wool  and  agricultural  products  was  shipped,  but  destroyed 
by  fire  en  route.  It  was  then  too  late  to  gather  together  another  and 
the  commission  had  to  content  itself  with  the  showing  of  minerals,  which 
included  gold  and  silver,  platinum,  onyx  and  a  variety  of  stone  The 
Nevada  commission  was  made  up  of :  W.  C.  Grimes,  St.  Clair ;  J.  F.  Dangburg, 
Gardnerville;  George  Russell,  Elko;  J.  A.  Yermington,  Hawthorne;  Abram 
Laird,  Eureka ;  George  S.  Nixon,  Winnemucca ;  J.  A.  Blossom,  Battle  Moun- 
tain; T.  J.  Osborne,  Pioche;  D.  C.  Simpson,  Wellington;  Andrew  Maute, 
Belmont;  John  Wagner,  Carson  City;  J.  H.  Kinkead,  Enoch  Strother,  Virginia 
City;  J.  B.  McCallough,  H.  B.  Maxon,  Reno;  William  Burke,  Shellbourne. 

North  Dakota  had  its  exhibit  in  the  Agricultural  building,  occupying 
10,000  square  feet  of  space.  It  was  made  up  almost  entirely  of  the  products  of 
the  soil,  consisting  chiefly  of  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley,  flax  and  vegetables. 
Some  of  the  natural  woods  were  shown,  as  also  were  the  fruits  grown  in  that 
State.  One  of  the  striking  features  was  a  large  $6,000  painting  by  Carl 
Gutherz,  entitled  "Farming  in  the  West."  It  was  a  composite  picture  of  the 
Power  farm  just  after  harvest.  It  showed  the  threshers  in  the  field  and  a 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits  183 

number  of  steam  plows  in  operation.  In  the  distance  were  the  farm  buildings, 
surrounded  by  groves  with  herds  of  cattle  and  horses  in  the  pastures.  North 
Dakota  raised  its  money  mostly  by  contribution,  though  the  State  made  an 
appropriation.  The  commisson  was:  C.  A.  Lounsberry,  president,  Fargo; 
C.  B.  Little,  treasurer,  Bismarck;  J.  B.  Power,  secretary,  Power. 

South  Dakota  occupied  10,000  square  feet  in  the  Mines  and  Min- 
ing, 1,000  in  the  Agricultural  and  500  square  feet  in  the  Dairy  building. 
The  money  for  making  the  exhibit,  $25,000,  was  raised  by  the  counties  of  the 
State  and  by  public-spirited  citizens.  The  exhibit  in  the  Mines  and  Mining 
building  was  purely  of  a  mineral  character.  A  gold  mine  in  the  Black  Hills 
was  reproduced  in  miniature,  with  all  the  required  machinery  in  opera- 
tion. A  small  house  was  constructed  of  the  various  kinds  of  building  stone, 
and  in  it  were  shown  samples  of  gold,  silver,  mica,  tin  and  lead.  In  the 
Agricultural  building  there  was  a  large  display  of  the  grains  of  the  State  and 
also  of  the  public  schools.  In  the  Dairy  building,  the  State  had  an  exhibit, 
and  in  competition  won  a  number  of  premiums.  The  South  Dakota  commis- 
sion included  the  following  prominent  men  of  the  State :  A.  McKinney,  Lead ; 
W.  L.  Gardner,  Rapid  City;  Harris  Franklin,  Martha  Chapman,  Charles  E. 
Davis,  Deadwood;  John  Stabler,  Hot  Springs;  Hance  Murphy,  Elk  Point; 
C.  A.  Jewett,  Sioux  Falls;  O.  H.  Mann,  Okaboji;  Hugh  Smith,  Howard; 
John  Hayes,  Fort  Pierre;  C.  V.  Gardner,.  Pierrepont. 

Under  its  constitution,  Texas  is  prohibited  from  making  appropriations 
for  expositions  and  similar  institutions.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  commercial 
bodies  of  the  cities  of  the  State,  together  with  private  citizens,  raised  $25,000 
and  Texas  was  represented  at  the  TransrMississippi  Exposition  in  as  creditable 
manner  as  most  of  the  States,  occupying  about  5,000  square  feet  in  the  Agri- 
cultural building,  where  the  exhibit  was  always  a  feature.  Special  attention  was 
given  to  the  tobacco,  cotton  and  wool  industry,  while  the  products  of  the  Gulf 
coast  were  displayed  in  an  endless  profusion.  Texas  had  by  many  been 
regarded  as  a  State  barren  of  forest,  yet  it  showed  more  than  forty  different 
kinds  of  wood,  many  of  the  varieties  being  used  for  saw  timber.  Fruits  of 
all  kinds  were  shown  in  their  season  and  innumerable  numbers  of  mounted 
animals,  birds  and  fishes  were  on  exhibition.  Vegetables  were  received  each 
week,  so  that  the  display  was  kept  fresh  and  attractive.  At  home  the  members 
of  the  Texas  commission  kept  in  constant  touch  with  Colonel  Atwater,  who 
was  the  commissioner  in  charge,  keeping  him  well  supplied  with  all  of  the 
things  necessary  to  advertise  the  resources  of  the  "Lone  Star"  State.  This 
commission  was  made  up  of  the  following  prominent  men :  S.  J.  T.  John- 
son, H.  Templeton,  Corsicana;  Ben.  A.  Reisner,  Tom  Richardson,  Houston; 
J.  E.  Elliott,  D.  S.  Malvern,  J.  R.  Currie,  Dallas;  A.  N.  Evans,  Fort  Worth; 


184 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


James  I.  Moore,  Waco;  R.  M.  Cash,  Galveston;  J.  L.  Elbert,  Ouanah;  L.  P. 
Wilson,  Yoakum;  Paul  Wipprecht,  Seguin;  R.  A.  Greer,  Beaumont;  P.  A. 
Smith,  Navasota;  J.  M.  Cleiborn,  Rusk;  John  Willacy,  Portland;  B.  F. 
McNulty,  H.  P.  Atwater,  R.  W.  Andrews,  San  Antonio;  Warren  Reed. 
Sweetwater;  J.  J.  Fairbanks,  Denison;  R.  L.  Ross,  Paris;  J.  D.  Ford,  Decatur: 
A.  B.  McKie,  El  Paso;  W.  L.  Vining,  Austin;  W.  A.  Fields,  Hillsboro;  T.  D. 
Rowell,  Jefferson;  D.  C.  Kolp,  lowapark;  E.  S.  Peters,  Calvert;  J.  A. 
Templeton,  Jacksonville;  A.  C.  Green,  Palestine;  H.  T.  Sims,  Galiman;  M.  S. 
Duffie,  Gatesville;  J.  D.  Rudd,  Waco. 


Theodore  Cooley,  Tennessee 


B.  S.  Cook,  Oregon 


While  Tennessee  did  not  make  an  exhibit,  the  Governor  named  a  com- 
mission and  the  men  comprising  it  did  much  to  create  interest  in  the  Exposi- 
tion throughout  the  South.  The  make-up  of  the  commission  was  as  follows : 
Theodore  Cooley,  John  J.  McCann,  Van  L.  Kirkman,  John  W.  Morton,  H.  C. 
Ward,  W.  T.  Davis,  J.  B.  Killebrow,  J.  M.  Safford,  J.  W.  Allison,  G.  W. 
Goodwin,  A.  J.  Harris,  Nashville;  W.  R.  Rankin,  Jasper;  P.  E.  Kefanber. 
Madisonville;  F.  H.  Ewing,  Cedar  Hill;  J.  W.  Roseman,  Gadsden;  H.  L.  Bed- 
ford, Bailey;  W.  L.  Chapman,  Knoxville;  G.  W.  Davenport,  C.  V.  Brown. 
Chattanooga;  S.  M.  Yancey,  Dixon  Spring;  John  T.  Essary,  state  commis- 
sioner of  agriculture. 

The  exhibit  of  Oregon  occupied  6,000  square  feet  and  the  money, 
$20,000,  for  collecting,  installing  and  maintaining  the  same  was  raised  by  the 
efforts  of  the  Portland  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  citizens  of  the  State, 
aided  by  the  commission,  consisting  of:  J.  E.  Haseltine,  J.  F.  Batchelder, 
Portland;  C.  C.  Beckman,  Jacksonville;  Henry  E.  Dosch,  Hillsdale;  J.  A. 
Wright,  Sparta;  J.  G.  Day,  Roseburg;  Philip  Metschan,  Claud  Gotch,  E.  P. 


State  Buildings  and  Exhibits 


185 


McCormack,  Salem,  H.  B.  Miller,  Grant's  Pass;  F.  B.  Alley,  Baker  City; 
J.  O.  Hanthorn,  Astoria;  George  G.  Cans,  Salem.  The  exhibit  was  most 
complete.  The  space  occupied  was  divided  as  follows :  Mines  and  Mining, 
2,000;  Forestry  exhibit,  2,000;  Horticultural,  1,500;  Educational,  1,000; 
Agricultural,  1,000;  Fish,  500  square  feet.  In  the  Horticultural  exhibit,  not- 
withstanding the  great  distance,  fresh  fruits  were  constantly  on  display.  In 
the  Forestry  exhibit  more  than  fifty  kinds  of  woods  were  shown.  One  of 
the  features  was  a  stick  of  timber  from  an  Oregon  fir.  It  was  90  feet  long  and 
squared  4  feet.  Much  space  was  given  over  to  grain  and  wool,  two  of  the 
products  of  the  State  and  the  source  of  a  large  revenue. 


L.  W.  Shurtliff 


Gov.  Heber  M.  Wells 


The  Legislature  of  Utah  appropriated  $8,000  and  the  people  contributed 
$10,000  more  to  aid  in  making  a  display  of  the  products  of  the 
State.  The  space  occupied  aggregated  3,000  square  feet — 1,000  in  the 
Mines  and  Mining,  1,000  in  the  Agricultural,  and  1,000  square  feet  in  the 
Manufactures'  building.  The  exhibit  in  the  Mines  and  Mining  building 
consisted  of  ores  of  all  kinds,  together  with  much  of  the  finished  products, 
such  as  silver  bars,  copper,  lead,  asphalt,  onyx  and  cut  stone.  Salt,  both 
raw  and  purified,  was  shown  in  great  abundance.  In  the  Agricultural 
building  Utah  showed  wool,  grains  of  all  kinds  and  the  products  of  the 
orchards,  dried  and  canned.  Silk  and  silk  worms  constituted  an  interesting 
feature.  The  worms  were  shown  on  the  branches  of  mulberry  trees  in  the 
cocoons  as  was  the  method  of  caring  for  them.  Raw  silk,  spun  and  manufac- 
tured, formed  a  portion  of  the  exhibit.  In  the  Manufactures  building  Utah 
made  a  most  creditable  display  of  the  work  being  done  in  the  State  public 
schools.  In  this  building  there  was  a  large  display  of  goods,  such  as  cloths,  all 


186  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

of  home  manufacture.  The  exhibits  of  the  State  were  worked  up  by  and  were 
in  charge  of  this  commission :  L.  W.  Shurtliff,  president,  Ogden;  P.  J.  Loman, 
Miss  Maggie  Keogh,  Salt  Lake;  Herber  Bennion,  Taylorville;  T.  R.  Cutler, 
Lehi. 

Washington  did  not  make  a  State  appropriation,  yet  the  people 
by  contribution  raised  $10,000  and  filled  1,000  square  feet  of  space 
in  the  Mines  and  Mining  and  a  like  quantity  in  the  Agricultural  building.  The 
mining  exhibit  was  complete,  consisting  of  gold  and  silver  ores,  together 
with  some  very  rich  copper.  In  the  Agricultural  building  the  space  was 
occupied  by  a  display  of  forestry  products,  grains  in  sheaf  and  glass  jars, 
native  grasses  and  fish.  The  commission  that  had  so  much  to  do  with  the 
work  was:  George  W.  Thompson,  J.  E.  Baker,  Tacoma;  George  B.  Stetson, 
P.  F.  Kelly,  L.  M.  Wood,  Seattle;  W.  S.  Spillman,  Pullman;  C.  H.  Thompson, 
Spokane;  C.  H.  Clark,  Spencer. 

West  Virginia  failed  to  exhibit  or  display  any  of  its  resources,  yet  it  had 
a  commission  that  thoroughly  advertised  the  Exposition  throughout  the  State. 
It  was  as  follows:  P.  W.  Peterson,  Wheeling;  D.  C.  Westonhaver,  Martins- 
burg;  H.  G.  Bayliss,  Elkins;  J.  S.  Hyer,  Suttin;  J.  W.  Furber,  Mannington; 
J.  M.  Camden,  Parkersburg;  E.  Ensign,  Huntington;  P.  W.  Morris,  Harris- 
ville;  Lyman  Steadman,  Castoria;  J.  A.  Preston,  Lewisburg. 

Wyoming,  with  its  usual  enterprise,  made  an  excellent  showing  in  the 
Agricultural  building,  where  it  occupied  1,000  square  feet  of  space.  It  showed 
gold  and  silver  ores,  building  stone  and  grains  and  grasses.  The  money  for 
the  exhibit  was  raised  by  subscription  and  the  work  was  in  charge  of :  Joseph 
M.  Carey,  W.  R.  Schinitger,  A.  D.  Kelly,  L.  R.  Bresnahan  and  M.  R.  Johnson, 
commissioners.  The  cost  of  collecting,  installing  and  maintaining  the  exhibit 
amounted  to  $15,000. 

Wisconsin,  besides  having  its  State  building,  occupied  3,000  feet  of 
space,  divided  between  the  Agricultural,  Manufactures  and  the  Dairy  build- 
ings. The  displays  were  typical  of  the  agricultural  States.  In  the  Agricultural 
building  the  display  of  grains  and  grasses  was  large  and  attractive.  Factory 
products  were  shown  in  the  Manufactures  and  the  dairy  products  in  the  Dairy 
building. 

Oklahoma,  although  an  infant  in  the  sisterhood  of  States,  raised  $2,000 
by  subscription,  and  with  this  sum  made  one  of  the  best  and  most  compact 
exhibits  in  the  Agricultural  building,  occupying  1,000  square  feet  of  space. 
It  consisted  of  grain  of  all  kinds,  native  and  cultivated  grasses,  tobacco,  cotton 
and  fruits.  The  commission  was:  J.  C.  Post,  president,  Kingfisher;  S.  T. 
Carico,  Alva;  J.  C.  North,  North ville:  C.  W.  Points,  Shawnee;  M.  Burke, 
Perry. 


THE  law  passed  by  Congress  providing  for  an  appropria- 
tion and  authorizing  representation  of  the  Government 
at  the  Omaha  Exposition  contained  the  usual  proviso 
admitting  foreign  exhibits  free  of  duty;  but,  through  an  over- 
sight, did  not  in  express  terms  provide  for  sending  formal 
invitations  to  foreign  governments  to  participate  in  the  Exposition 
and  urging  their  people  to  install  exhibits  of  the  products,  arts 
and  industries  of  the  nations  with  which  the  United  States 
Government  maintained  diplomatic  relations.  In  view  of  this 
important  omission  the  President  later  was  asked  to  issue  such  invita- 
tions. This  was  done  through  the  State  Department,  all  consular 
agents  abroad  being  advised  of  such  action.  Thus  considerable 
interest  was  aroused,  and  as  negotiations  progressed  it  became  manifest 
to  the  managers  of  the  Exposition  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  erect 
a  building  especially  for  placing  foreign  exhibits.  However,  it  was 
at  first  found  to  be  difficult  to  convince  officials  and  manufacturers  of 
foreign  States  of  the  high  character  of  the  Exposition,  due,  no  doubt,  to  the 
limited  knowledge  of  the  West  and  its  resources  possessed  by  the  Government 
officials  and  people  of  the  Old  World  generally.  It  was  necessary  to  get  all 
the  facts  before  them  at  the  earliest  practicable  day. 

The  departments  of  Publicity,  Promotion  and  Exhibits  did  much  to  dispel 
the  erroneous  notions  entertained  abroad  with  respect  to  the  character  and 
scope  of  the  Exposition.  The  foreign  newspapers,  especially  in  Germany, 
were  prevailed  upon  to  devote  space  to  announcements  concerning  the  Expo- 
sition, together  with  descriptions  thereof.  Agents  and  representatives  were 
appointed,  the  choice  falling  either  upon  native  residents  of  the  several  coun- 
tries, or  upon  American  citizens  who  went  there  in  the  interest  of  the  Expo- 
sition. Prof.  J.  H.  Gore,  of  the  Columbian  University,  was  in  charge  of  the 


190 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


exhibit  of  the  United  States  at  the  Brussels  exposition,  and  volunteered  his 
services  to  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  Company,  which  were  accepted, 
and  he  was  appointed  as  a  commissioner  for  the  Exposition.  Among  those 
who,  as  commissioners,  assisted  in  securing  foreign  exhibits,  were  the  follow- 
ing :  Colonel  Charles  T.  Murphy,  Louis  Moreau,  J.  F.  Lowe,  Rev.  Mr.  Powell, 
A.  E.  Cockerton,  Dudley  Smith,  H.  Muentefering  and  Geo.  W.  Fishbank. 
Geo.  Avery  of  Detroit  was  appointed  associate  commissioner  for  the  Central 
American  republics. 

As  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  Exposition  management  to  apprise  the 
people  in  foreign  lands  of  the  character  and  scope  of  the  Exposition,  a  large 
number  of  manufacturers  and  others  were  well  ^^^H^^ 

represented.  The  French  manufacturers  organ- 
ized an  exposition  commission  comprising  fifty 
of  their  number,  the  result  of  which  was  the 
installation  of  a  splendid  exhibit  by  seventy-five 
manufacturers  of  Paris  and  other  French  cities. 
The  Mexican  Government  accepted  the  invita- 
tion to  be  represented  at  the  Exposition.  '  The 
manufactures  and  other  products  of  Italy  were 
represented  by  about  forty-five  exhibitors,  and 
other  countries,  such  as  Russia,  Switzerland, 
Denmark,  Austria,  Great  Britain,  Canada  and 
Germany,  installed  good  displays  of  the  products 
of  their  respective  countries.  China  was  officially 
represented  at  the  Exposition  and  its  exhibit 
in  large  part  was  contained  within  a  building  erected  by  the  Chinese 
Government  for  the  purpose.  Hon.  Charles  Denby,  United  States  Minister 
to  China,  was  active  in  behalf  of  this  exhibit,  a  very  interesting  one,  and 
received  a  letter  from  the  Tsung  Li  Yemen  wherein  he  was  advised  that  the 
Chinese  Minister  at  Washington,  Mr.  Wu  Ting  Fang,  would  be  instructed  to 
deputize  officers  to  represent  China  at  the  Exposition;  and  pursuant  to  such 
instructions,  Mr.  Chan  Fan  Moore,  an  officer  of  the  Chinese  Legation,  was 
detailed  as  official  representative  of  the  Chinese  Government.  The  Chinese 
exhibits  were  partially  housed  in  pagodas,  built  in  accordance  with  the 
architectural  designs  of  temples  in  those  countries.  An  interesting  feature 
was  the  display  of  ancient  gods,  who  were  presumed  to  preside  over  the 
destinies  of  the  people.  There  were  war  gods,  peace  gods,  gods  of  famine 
and  gods  of  prosperity.  The  display  of  ancient  and  modern  art  as  portrayed 
in  China  was  an  interesting  and  instructive  feature.  Mexico  occupied  3,000 
square  feet  of  space,  exhibiting  products  of  the  soil :  wheat,  corn,  rye  and 
barley;  ten  varieties  of  coffee,  castor  beans,  tobacco,  oranges,  lemons  rind 


Albino  R.  Nuncio, 
Mexican  Commissioner 


International  Exhibits  and  Building  191 

figs;  also  manufactured  goods,  cotton,  linen,  silks,  laces  and  drawn  work. 
Her  exhibit  of  ores  and  metals  was  quite  extensive,  including  gold,  silver, 
copper,  lead,  zinc  and  iron.  In  goods  from  fiber,  were  carpets,  shades,  hats 
and  coarse  cloths.  In  one  section  historical  articles  were  displayed  showing 
articles  and  implements  in  use  during  Aztec  days  and  prior  to  the  invasion 
of  Cortez.  These  articles  were  made  of  bone,  copper  and  stone.  A  sacrificial 
stone,  drawings  of  Aztec  temples,  etc.,  were  shown.  Canada,  including 
Toronto,  Quebec  and  other  lower  provinces,  occupied  5,000  square  feet  of 
floor  and  6,000  square  feet  of  wall  space.  The  exhibit  was  mainly  agricul- 
tural and  horticultural,  showing  varied  resources  of  the  country.  Grains 
in  both  sheaf  and  berry  were  shown,  including  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley  and 
flax,  besides  the  grasses,  both  tame  and  wild.  There  was  a  display  of  fruit, 
apples,  crabs,  plums  and  berries.  The  forestry  exhibit  was  very  extensive, 
something  like  fifty  varieties  of  native  woods  being  shown.  Nova  Scotia  and 
Ontario  occupied  the  same  section.  The  former  had  a  large  display  of  fish 
and  food  products  from  the  sea  in  addition  to  its  fruit  exhibit  which  con- 
tained peaches,  pears,  grapes,  etc.  Ontario  showed  fruits  of  various  kinds, 
manufactured  goods  and  all  of  the  varieties  of  grain  raised  in  the  temperate 
zone.  The  forestry  exhibit  was  large  and  comprehensive,  including  many 
varieties  of  woods  from  the  northern  forests.  From  the  coast  section  of  British 
Columbia,  there  was  a  large  exhibit  of  sea  fish,  dried  and  canned.  Much 
space  was  occupied  by  minerals,  including  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  building 
stone  and  marble.  Woods,  both  in  their  natural  state  and  manufactured  into 
timber,  and  fruits,  such  as  apples,  peaches,  pears  and  grapes,  were  shown. 
Alberta  made  an  extensive  display  of  small  grain  and  grasses,  some  fruit  and 
an  exhibit  of  woods  and  coal.  Great  Britain,  Austria  and  Denmark  jointly 
occupied  1,000  square  feet  of  space,  though  their  exhibits  were  separate.  Art, 
manufactured  goods  and  jewelry  constituted  the  major  portion  of  the  exhibit. 
The  art  display  included  work  of  the  oldest  masters,  down  to  those  of  the 
present  day.  In  the  manufactured  goods'  section  only  the  best  and  most 
interesting  articles  that  the  countries  produced  were  on  display.  Denmark 
displayed  a  large  quantity  of  crockery  and  terra  cotta  ware.  Russia  made  a 
small,  but  interesting,  exhibit,  showing  a  beautiful  collection  of  tapestry  and 
wood-carving.  Besides  this,  there  was  quite  an  extensive  agricultural  display, 
including  wheat  and  barley  from  the  northern  portion  of  the  country  and 
from  Siberia.  There  \vere  goods  from  the  forests  and  samples  of  coal  and 
iron  ore  from  the  Siberian  mines.  There  was  also  a  small  but  select  exhibit 
of  jewelry  and  manufactured  goods.  Italy  occupied  1,000  square  feet  \vith 
a  display  of  art,  art-goods,  marble,  statuary  and  manufactured  goods.  While 
shown  under  the  sanction  of  the  Government  of  the  country,  the  exhibit  was 
made  by  private  parties  and  art  museums.  It  included  many  valuable  works 


192  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

of  art,  some  of  them  dating  back  to  the  period  when  Rome  was  in  the  zenith 
of  its  glory.  Many  pieces  of  the  marble  were  by  the  famous  sculptors  who 
lived  centuries  ago.  France  had  4,000  feet  of  floor  space,  occupied  by  75 
firms,  companies  and  societies.  The  ceramic  display  was  said  to  be  one  of 
the  best  ever  gathered  together,  containing  a  large  number  ot  pieces  of  great 
beauty  and  value.  The  exhibit  consisted  largely  of  expensive  manufactured 
goods  of  all  classes,  yet  French  art  occupied  a  prominent  position,  a  number 
of  costly  oil  paintings  and  pieces  of  statuary  being  exhibited.  Switzerland 
occupied  600  square  feet  of  space  with  its  display  of  fine  arts,  jewelry  and 
manufactured  goods.  The  display  of  watches  was  large,  including  some  of 
the  earliest  manufacture.  They  were  crude  looking  affairs,  as  large  as  saucers. 
The  art  consisted  of  statuary  and  a  number  of  paintings  of  the  Alps,  moun- 
tain and  rural  scenery.  In  the  manufactured  goods  section,  carpets,  drap- 
eries and  many  lines  of  novelties  were  shown. 

The  unique  exhibit  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  may  not  have  been  prop- 
erly classified  as  foreign,  but  it  was  most  interesting,  the  chief  feature  being 
a  colony  of  natives  who  occupied  primitive  huts  used  in  the  Islands  during 
the  early  period  of  civilization.  Household  furniture  for  kitchen  and  bed- 
room and  costumes  worn  when  Islanders  were  in  savage  state  were  shown, 
and  an  educational  exhibit  showing  progress  of  the  nation  was  made;  also 
clothing  and  manufactured  goods,  fruits,  grains,  sugar,  rice  and  an  immense 
exhibit  of  coffee.  Rice,  timber  and  flowering  shrubs  were  shown  in  profusion. 

The  International  building  was  located  on  the  Twentieth  street  boule- 
vard, north  of  the  Manufactures  building.  The  design  was  of  Ionic  order,  the 
studied  simplicity  producing  rich  architectural  effects.  The  main  facade  pre- 
sented the  usual  stylobate,  wall  veil  and  enriched  entablature.  The  wall 
panels  were  marked  by  highly  ornamented  Ionic  pilasters,  terminated  at 
either  end  by  pavilions  of  severe  outline  and  treatment.  Its  dimensions  were 
100x125  feet,  with  18,583  square  feet  of  exhibit  space. 

The  official  letter  of  the  State  Department  was  addressed  to  United  States 
diplomatic  officers  throughout  the  world.  The  following  copy  of  letters  to 
the  Government  of  the  Argentine  Republic  will  indicate  to  the  reader  the  scope 
of  all  such  letters  of  invitation.  These  letters  read : 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

WASHINGTON,  June  15,  1897. 
To  Diplomatic  Officers: 

SIR:  I  transmit  herewith  a  letter  dated  May  I,  1897,  addressed  by  the  President  of 
the  Trans-Mississippi  International  Exposition,  extending  a  cordial  invitation  to  His 
Excellency,  the  President  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  the  citizens  thereof,  to  take  part 
in  an  Exposition  to  be  held  at  Omaha,  Nebraska,  from  June  I,  to  November  I,  1898,  agree- 
able to  the  act  of  Congress,  approved  June  10,  1896,  "for  the  exhibition  of  the  resources  of  the 


International  Exhibits  and  Building  193 

United  States  of  America  and  the  progress  and  civilization  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  and 
for  a  display  of  the  arts,  industries,  manufactures  and  products  of  the  soil,  mine  and  sea." 

I  enclose  several  copies  of  a  circular  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on 
January  u,  1897,  which  not  only  embodies  the  laws  of  Congress  on  the  subject,  but  prescribes 
the  regulations  under  which  all  articles  imported  from  foreign  countries  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  exhibition  at  the  proposed  Exposition  and  on  which  duties  are  to  be  collected  under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  admitted  free  of  the  payment  of  duty,  customs,  fees  or 
charges,  except,  of  course,  whenever  any  such  dutiable  articles  may  be  sold  or  withdrawn 
for  consumption  in  the  United  States. 

According  to  Section  3  of  the  Act  aforesaid,  there  shall  be  exhibited  at  the  Omaha 
Exposition  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  from  its  Executive  Departments,  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  the  United  States  Fish  Commission,  and  the  National  Museum, 
such  article's  and  material  as  illustrate  the  function  and  administrative  faculty  of  the 
Government  in  time  of  peace,  and  its  resources  as  a  war  power,  tending  to  demonstrate  the 
nature  of  our  institutions  and  their  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  people. 

It  is  the  earnest  wish  of  the  Executive  head  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International 
Exposition,  that  the  Government  to  which  you  are  accredited  may  find  it  practicable  to 
participate  therein  in  a  manner  befitting  the  importance  and  character  of  the  enterprise. 

You  may  take  an  early  occasion  to  deliver  the  enclosed  invitation  to  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  to  the  end  that  it  may  reach  its  high  destination.  In  doing  this  and  in 
making  known  to  him  the  statements  herein  contained,  you  may  express  the  satisfaction  it 
would  give  your  Government  to  know  that  the  Government  of  His  Excellency  had  consented 
to  accept  the  courteous  invitation.  You  should,  however,  be  careful  to  explain  that  although 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  purposes  to  be  represented  in  accordance  with  the 
cited  provision  of  the  law,  the  proposed  Exposition  is  in  nowise  under  the  auspices  or 
patronage  of  the  Federal  Government ;  neither  is  the  latter  held  in  any  manner  responsible 
on  account  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  Association. 

Respectfully  yours, 

JOHN  SHERMAN. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
To  Diplomatic  Officers:  WASHINGTON,  July  22,  1897. 

SIR:  Referring  to  the  Department's  invitation  of  June  15,  1897.  I  have  now  to  apprise 
you  of  the  following  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  adopted  by  that  body  on 
June  28,  1897 : 

"Resolved,  That  the  President  be,  and  he  is  respectfully  requested,  if  in  his  judgment  it 
would  not  be  incompatible  with  the  public  policy,  to  invite  by  proclamation  or  in  such  other 
manner  as  he  may  deem  most  proper,  foreign  nations  to  make  exhibits  at  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  and  International  Exposition,  to  be  held  at  the  city  of  Omaha,  in  the  State  of 
Nebraska,  between  June  ist  and  November  ist,  Anno  Domini,  1898." 

You  may  communicate  to  the  Government  to  which  you  are  accredited  a  copy  of  this 
supplementary  invitation  and  say,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  intends  to  prepare  an  exhibit  for  that  Exposition  in  accordance  with  Section  3  of  the 
Act  approved  June  10,  1896,  that  it  would  be  exceedingly  gratifying  to  the  President  and  to 
this  Government  should  the  Government  of  the  Argentine  Republic  find  itself  able  to 
accept  the  invitation  heretofore  so  courteously  extended,  and  send  a  representative  exhibit. 

Respectfully  yours, 

ALVEY  A.  ADEE, 

Acting  Secretary. 


194  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

By  direction  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  President  Wattles  wrote  a  formal 
letter  of  invitation  to  rulers  of  foreign  nations,  inviting  them  to  participate 
in  the  Exposition.  A  set  form  was  used  in  composing  the  letter,  the  phrase- 
ology employed  by  the  Department  of  State  being  followed,  and  the  letters 
were  artfully  indited  in  the  handwriting  of  Clement  Chase.  Following  is  a 
copy  of  the  letter  of  invitation  sent  to  China : 

His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  China,  Peking: 

I  have  the  honor  to  call  the  attention  of  your  Imperial  Majesty  to  the  following: 

The  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition,  recognized  by  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  will  be  held  at  Omaha,  Nebraska,  U.  S.  A.,  from  June  I  until 
November  i  in  the  year  1898.  This  exposition  will  particularly  represent  the  products  of 
soil  and  mine,  arts  and  manufactures  of  the  states  and  territories  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  an  area  comprising  twenty-four  states  and  territories,  of  great  fertility  and  immense 
resources,  with  a  surface  of  2,720,345  square  miles  and  a  population  of  16,000,000  inhabitants, 
bul  will  be  patronized  by  all  the  states  in  the  Union  and  by  the  general  government  of  the 
United  States.  By  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  articles  imported  from  foreign 
countries  for  exhibition  will  be  admitted  duty  free,  under  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  copy  of  which  I  beg  to  inclose  herewith,  and  I  also  inclose  a  copy  of  the 
act  of  Congress,  showing  the  participation  in  the  exposition  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States. 

All  nations  will  be  invited  to  participate  in  this  exposition  to  the  end  that,  by  friendly 
rivalry  and  mutual  intercourse,  the  commercial  relations  and  general  prosperity  of  all  may 
be  increased. 

In  the  name  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  corporation  I  have 
the  honor  to  extend  to  the  empire  of  China  a  cordial  invitation  to  participate.  May  I  indulge 
the  hope  that  this  invitation  will  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  your  subjects  at  an  early 
date,  and  that  the  products  and  wares  of  your  great  and  powerful  empire  may  be  exhibited. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  Imperial  Majesty's  most  obedient  servant, 

GURDON  W.  WATTLES, 
President  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and 
International  Exposition. 


rHE  ultimate  aim  of  a  great  Exposition  is  to  mark  the 
degree  of  progress  made  in  the  arts  and  industries 
and    to    reveal    to    the    popular    eye    the    developed 
resources  of  the  country  as  well  as  to  give  some  idea  of  its 
undeveloped   wealth.      This   is   done   largely   through   the 
medium  of  object  lessons  or  exhibits  from  the  various  lines 
lill^S  of  industry  and  from  nature's  storehouses — the  workshop, 

I*  the  soil,  the  mine.  A  widespread  desire  to  apprise  the  world 
of  the  advance  or  progress  of  civilization  and  industry  in  the 
Western  States  gave  rise  to  the  idea  of  holding  the  Trans-Mississippi 
and  International  Exposition  in  1898.  The  attainment  of  the  object 
sought  was  attested  by  the  installation  of  general  exhibits  hitherto 
unmatched  in  many  important  particulars.  The  amazing  wealth  of 
the  Trans-Mississippi  States  was  exploited  as  never  before,  and  the 
revelation  thus  presented  proved  to  be  of  inestimable  value  to  the  people 
of  the  West.  These  exhibits,  for  the  most  part,  were  placed  in  the  great 
buildings  located  in  the  Grand  Court.  In  another  chapter  these  splendid 
structures  are  described.  They  afforded  an  enormous  amount  of  space  for  an 
infinite  variety  of  exhibits.  The  area  of  floor  space  approximated  500,000 
square  feet;  space  in  galleries  75,000  square  feet.  There  were  5,119  separate 
exhibits  and  the  total  number  of  exhibitors  was  1,252.  Forty  States  and  ten 
foreign  countries  were  represented  in  the  general  exhibits.  Each  State  was 
given  i  ,000  feet  in  the  collective  exhibits  free  of  charge.  Space  occupied  by 
private  exhibits  in  the  buildings  yielded  $i  per  square  foot,  and  in  the  grounds 
50  cents.  The  total  receipts  of  the  exhibits  department  were  about  $200,000. 
Men  who  acted  as  judges  numbered  nearly  one  hundred,  most  of  whom  were 
experts  in  the  particular  lines  in  which  service  was  rendered.  Commemorative 
medals  to  the  number  of  464  were  awarded,  with  2,530  diplomas.  In  addition. 


198  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

cash  prizes  amounting  to  $35,000  were  awarded  to  winners  in  the  live-stock 
department.     The  medals  were  of  gold,  silver  and 'bronze. 

LIVE  EXHIBITS 

The  term  "live"  exhibits  is  intended  to  describe  exhibits  shown  in 
motion,  as  if  in  actual  use.  In  the  Transportation  building,  the  Baldwin 
locomotives  stood  with  their  great  drive  wheels  revolving.  The  windmills  of 
a  local  firm  continually  revolved.  Threshers  and  other  farm  implements 
moved  as  if  actually  at  work,  and  the  wheels  of  horseless  carriages  and 
bicycles  spun  constantly. 

In  the  Electricity  and  Machinery  building,  the  General  Electric  Company 
exhibited  the  latest  electrical  illuminations.  A  saw  manufacturing  company 
made  its  saws  "go  round,"  and  a  lens  maker  ground  lenses.  A  gas  engine 
works  had  a  sample  line  of  machines  constantly  performing  their  functions, 
and  a  self -lifting  elevator  moved  up  and  down  with  its  passengers.  A  gas 
engine  company  demonstrated  the  facility  with  which  power  was  trans- 
mitted from  its  connections  with  a  gas  main.  An  electric  company 
exhibited  X-rays,  and  the  Winchester  Arms  Company  illustrated  the  modern 
methods  of  utilizing  rifles,  shotguns  and  ammunition.  There  were  looms 
in  operation  and  a  miniature  train  of  cars  attracted  attention. 

In  the  Liberal  Arts  building  a  graphophone  produced  songs,  music  and 
speeches.  A  concern  also  illustrated  the  processes  incident  to  amateur 
photography.  An  incubator  hatched  little  chicks  at  another  point  and  a  Swed- 
ish firm  turned  out  fine  embroidery  from  its  embroidery  machine.  Perhaps 
<no  exhibit  in  the  Liberal  Arts  building  exceeded  in  novelty  that  of  a  firm 
engaged  in  making  artificial  limbs.  A  legless  man  rode  a  bicycle,  performed 
feats  on  roller  skates  and  in  other  ways  proved  to  the  observer  the  perfection 
reached  by  the  makers  of  these  articles. 

The  Manufactures  building  was  alive  with  machines  producing  results. 
Sewing  machines  turned  out  ready-made  clothing.  A  Wisconsin  genius 
made  twine  from  prairie  grass.  A  packing  house  exhibited  a  revolving 
refrigerator  of  mammoth  proportions  and  a  harness  and  saddlery  firm  manu- 
factured saddles  and  harness  every  day.  A  yeast  company  illustrated  the 
process  of  bread-leavening. 

In  the  Agricultural  building  the  Nebraska  Millers'  Association  had  an 
expert  demonstrating  the  extra  quality  of  bread  and  pastry  made  from 
Nebraska  flour.  Manufacturers  of  food  products  made  and  distributed  their 
goods.  Tobacco  growers  and  manufacturers  were  actively  at  work  and  the 
processes  which  convert  fibre  into  twine  and  rope  were  all  illustrated. 

On  the  Bluff  tract,  a  leading  tobacco  firm  conducted  a  tobacco  plantation, 
and  in  its  special  building  exhibited  its  processes  for  curing  the  weed  and 


Description  of  General  Exhibits  199 

showed  immense  quantities  of  the  marketable  product.  A  bag  factory  main- 
tained a  cotton  field  in  a  small  enclosure  adjacent  to  its  building.  An  enter-- 
prising electric  company  had  an  exhibit  showing  how  electricity  can  be 
utilized  by  the  farmer  and  plowed  up  the  turf  from  day  to  day  by  an  applica- 
tion of  this  power  in  the  ordinary  field  work.  The  Chinese  Exhibit  Associa- 
tion maintained  a  building  on  the  Bluff  tract  where  ivory  novelties  and  bam- 
boo furniture  were  made  to  order.  In  the  Utah  exhibit  silkworms  at  work 
were  shown.  In  the  mining  exhibit  the  process  of  panning  placer  dirt  was 
illustrated.  In  the  gallery  of  the  Manufactures  building  was  an  exhibit 
of  manual  training  in  the  public  schools,  showing  finished  products  of 
school-boy  skill  with  lathes  and  other  tools.  An  irrigation  company  illustrated 
methods  of  irrigating  farm  lands  in  Western  Nebraska  and  maintained  a 
field  on  the  North  tract  for  that  purpose  in  which  grains  and  vegetables  were 
grown. 

THE   MINING  EXHIBIT 

The  mining  exhibit  at  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  was  a  well-nigh 
complete  exposition  of  the  economic  mineral  resources  of  every  State  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River.  The  fundamental  object  of  these  exhibits  was  to  show 
every  mineral  substance  produced  in  commercial  quantity,  and  by  the  charac- 
ter of  the  specimen  to  indicate  the  condition  in  which  each  useful  mineral 
substance  is  found  in  nature.  The  different  processes  of  extracting  precious 
metals  from  the  crude  ore  were  shown.  In  addition  to  this,  an  effort  was 
made  to  familiarize  the  public  with  the  appearances  of  the  chief  mineral 
localities;  the  geological  conditions  under  which  the  minerals  themselves 
are  found  in  each  locality,  and  the  character  of  the  smelting  and  other  mining 
operations  carried  on  in  each  State.  These  features  were  illustrated  by  maps 
and  photographs  or  by  water  colors.  Utah  and  Montana  were  the  only 
States  for  which  there  were  State  appropriations  for  a  mining  display,  but 
by  individual  subscriptions,  Kansas,  Oregon,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  New 
Mexico,  Alaska,  Nevada,  Idaho,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Washington,  Okla- 
homa, South  Dakota  and  California  were  represented  by  systematic  collec- 
tions made  by  State  commissioners.  In  addition  to  these,  the  mineral 
resources  of  Texas,  Arkansas,  Arizona,  Iowa  and  North  Dakota  were  shown 
by  exhibits  obtained  from  individual  producers  in  these  several  States.  While 
it  is  impracticable  to  give  a  detailed  description  of  the  exhibit  from  each 
State,  it  may  be  said  in  general  that  special  attention  was  paid  rather  to  a 
complete  showing  of  such  minerals  as  had  proved  to  be  of  economic  value. 
Perhaps  the  greatest  revelation  of  the  extensive  display  was  that  which 
illustrated  the 'limitless  resources  of  the  West  in  such  important  materials  as 
clay,  building  stone  and  coal.  The  exhibit  was  not  permitted  to  tell  simply 


200  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

a  tale  of  the  Western  stores  of  precious  metals.  The  coal  exhibits  of  Kansas. 
Oregon,  Montana,  Utah,  Missouri,  New  Mexico,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  even 
North  Dakota,  were  greater  than  were  ever  made  before.  A  convenient  com- 
parison with  the  coal  deposits  was  made  by  one  or  two  typical  exhibits  of 
Eastern  coals,  such  as  the  very  large  specimens  of  anthracite  from  Mauch 
Chunk,  Pa.  In  clay  exhibits  the  resources  of  Nebraska  were  striking,  there 
being  over  one  hundred  products  of  bricks,  tiling,  terra  cotta,  fire  brick  and 
other  products  of  clay  in  Nebraska  alone.  The  effort  to  show  the  production 
of  gold  was  phenomenal;  there  was  a  large  store  of  nuggets  and  gold  from 
Alaska,  one  exhibit  alone  containing  a  specimen  from  every  camp  in  that  far- 
away territory.  The  State  of  Washington  told  a  story  to  the  effect  that  that 
is  a  gold  State,  and  Oregon  taught  the  same  lesson.  This  was  done  not  only 
by  showing  specimens  from  that  State,  but  by  actually  bringing  supplies  of 
placer  dirt  and  panning  it  out  at  short  intervals  during  the  Exposition.  The 
process  of  gold  extraction  from  refractory  ores  was  shown  quite  thoroughly 
in  an  exhibit  from  the  Black  Hills  of  South  Dakota.  A  portion  of  the  gallery 
was  set  aside  for  a  lecture  hall  for  illustrations  of  various  processes  of 
extracting  precious  metals  from  their  ores,  and  conventions  of  mining  men 
were  held  during  the  Exposition.  The  rest  of  the  gallery  was  chiefly 
devoted  to  loan  collections  of  minerals  and  exhibits  from  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey,  and  a  series  of  metallurgical  exhibits  indicative  of  the 
progress  in  that  line  since  the  World's  Fair.  This  included  a  fine  showing  in 
the  manufactures  of  carborundum,  calcium  carbide,  etc.,  and  was  perhaps 
the  most  attractive  of  all.  The  collection  of  the  gems  of  the  West  by  Mr. 
George  F.  Kuntz,  gem  expert,  was  another  striking  feature. 

There  was  a  cross-sectional  view  of  the  largest  electric  furnace  known, 
and  a  large  piece  of  artificial  graphite  made  therein,  together  with  useful 
articles  manufactured  from  the  new  form  of  graphite.  There  was  a  complete 
collection  of  all  varieties  of  crude  petroleum,  including  specimens  from  a  field 
in  Alaska.  Rich  telluride  gold  ores  were  shown.  New  deposits  of  onyx 
from  Utah  attracted  much  attention,  as  did  the  siliceous  gold  ores  of  the 
Black  Hills,  where  gold  contents  of  an  acre  can  be  measured  with  greater 
accuracy  than  anywhere  else  save  in  South  Africa.  There  were  iron  ores  of 
the  Mesaba  region  in  Minnesota.  There  was  a  good  representation  of  the 
free-milling  gold  ores  of  the  newly  discovered  districts  of  British  Colombia, 
including  the  famous  Camp  McKinney  region.  The  Omaha  &  Grant  Smelt- 
ing Company  displayed  48  pure  silver  ingots  worth  $40,000 — one  day's 
product.  California  made  by  private  parties  an  exhibit  of  gold  medals, 
nuggets  and  the  Verd-antique  of  Santa  Catalina  Island  which  is  described 
as  the  result  of  a  revival  of  the  ancient  fashion  of  cutting  vases,  bowls,  etc.. 
out  of  solid  rock  and  polishing  them  to  translucent  thinness.  New  Mexico 


Description  of  General  Exhibits  201 

made  brilliant  exhibits  in  turquoise  in  its  inclosing  rock,  comprising  some  of 
the  rarest  specimens.  There  were  gold  exhibits  from  many  States,  including 
various  kinds  of  gold-bearing  rocks.  Some  of  the  States  showed  ton  lots  of 
low-grade  gold-bearing  placer  dirt  and  the  process  of  panning.  There  were 
large-size  water-color  reproductions  of  mines,  smelting  works,  etc.  The 
Utah  commission  permitted  the  use  for  decorative  purposes  of  a  large  flag 
150x87  feet,  made  by  the  ladies  of  Utah  at  the  time  of  admission  to  statehood. 
There  were  also  many  large  photographs  on  glass  illustrating  mining  prop- 
erties and  mineral  regions  throughout  the  West.  There  were  uncut  diamonds 
from  Central  Africa  and  diamonds  in  the  original  clay.  Mexico  and  Canada 
were  represented  by  splendid  exhibits  of  gold,  silver,  copper  and  stone. 
There  was  an  exhibit  of  ore  from  the  Comstock  lode  of  Nevada,  showing 
ore  which  produced  $20,000  per  ton,  pure  gold.  In  the  Colorado  exhibit 
there  was  a  nugget  weighing  21  pounds  containing  10  pounds  pure  gold. 
There  were  over  6,000  specimens  in  the  exhibit  of  the  Centennial  State.  In 
the  New  Mexican  exhibit  were  specimens  of  silver,  gold,  iron,  coal,  lead  and 
copper,  as  well  as  topaz,  turquoise,  agate,  rubies  and  garnets.  Missouri 
exhibited  lead,  zinc,  nickel,  iron,  coal  and  stone.  In  the  South  Dakota  exhibit 
there  was  ore  assaying  $200  to  the  ton.  There  were  specimens  of  mica, 
tin,  lead,  copper,  zinc,  silver  and  building  stone.  In  addition  to  Utah's  exhibit 
mentioned  above  there  were  specimens  of  free-milling  and  refractory  gold  ores, 
huge  blocks  of  bullion,  refined  gold  and  silver,  lead  and  copper,  as  well  as 
soda  ash,  salt,  sulphates,  asphaltum  and  building  stone.  Oregon  contributed 
specimens  of  native  copper,  free-milling  gold  ore,  mineral  point,  jasper,  clay 
and  building  stone.  There  was  a  fine  exhibit  of  pure  gold  from  the  Snake 
River  mines.  In  the  Montana  exhibit  there  were  two  bars  of  solid  silver 
weighing  200  pounds  each.  There  were  4,000  pounds  copper  ore  which 
assayed  72  per  cent.  There  were  gold  nuggets  worth  $350  apiece.  Wash- 
ington displayed  free-milling  and  other  gold  ores,  also  silver  and  copper. 
Georgia  contributed  aluminum  ores,  building  stone,  marble,  granite,  day,  mica, 
graphite  and  asbestos.  Minnesota  displayed  iron  ores  and  building  stone. 
The  Mines  and  Mining  building  was  said  to  be  the  best  ever  constructed 
for  the  purpose.  It  was  large,  strongly  built  and  well  lighted.  Its  dimen- 
sions were  150x400  feet.  On  the  first  floor  the  available  space  measured 
41,455  square  feet,  and  in  the  gallery  there  were  20,205  square  feet. 

AGRICULTURE 

Situated  in  the  heart  of  a  great  grain-growing  region,  the  Exposition 
naturally  was  expected  to  devote  large  space  to  exhibits  of  the  agricultural 
products  of  the  West.  In  the  collective  exhibits  in  the  great  Agriculture 
building  15  States  were  represented  and  in  addition  thereto  there  were  many 


202 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


exhibits  by  private  parties  and  corporations.  A  distinctive  feature  of  the 
interior  of  this  building  was  the  large  use  made  of  the  various  grains  in  a 
decorative  way.  Corn,  the  chief  product  of  the  prairie  States,  was  much  in 
evidence  in  these  decorations,  yet  cereals  of  all  kinds  were  thus  employed 
to  good  effect.  Marked  skill  was  shown  in  the  friendly  rivalry  of  the  different 
States  in  the  graceful  arrangement  of  the  exhibits  and  in  their  unique  decora- 
tions. Some  of  the  latter  took  the  form  of  liberty  bells,  canopies,  spinning 
tops,  candelabra,  flags,  statues,  cornucopias  and  hour-glasses  in  parti-colored 
grain;  wreaths,  festoons,  scrolls  and  arabesques  of  wheat,  barley,  oats  and 
rye.  A  table  spread  with  Nebraska  food-products  surrounded  by  a  family 
dressed  in  the  latest  style  of  clothing  made  of  cornhusks  and  seeds  was  one  of 
the  finest  decorative  designs.  A  cannon  with  ammunition  of  glass  balls  filled 
with  grain  came  from  Cuba.  An  American  flag  made  of  corn  blades  was  a 
novel  feature.  Pictures  of  Western  farm  life  made  a  beautiful  frieze,  the 
flag  drapery  being  very  effective.  Oregon's  forestry  display  was  unique — a 
sawed  log  62  feet  long,  sections  of  trees  6  feet  in  diameter,  others  less  in  girth 
and  finer  in  grain. 

The  Nebraska  exhibit  occupied  a  position  in  the  middle  of  the  lower 
floor  to  the  right  of  the  main  aisle.     The  pillars  were  decorated  with  grains 


«|T  ~    llr:~i  ]lll^"     1 

I      _»!  «L_1I       iJl  iHJ     1 

"i<  .  -    Hm*:1Hrl! 

,  (l.'lfMi        if 

"~:B"  "fi    '  ":9T  l^:  i 

i  :™<  t    .  wuairui 

I   .   . 


Description  of  General  Exhibits 


203 


Agriculture 

and  grasses.  From  the  front  arch  hung  the  great  seal  of  the  State,  above 
which  was  suspended  a  large  horseshoe,  both  worked  out  in  vari-colored  seeds. 
Underneath,  on  either  side,  were  the  figures  1867-1898.  The  color  scheme  of 
the  decorations  partook  of  yellow,  green  and  red,  the  Ak-Sar-Ben  colors. 
The  arches  were  hung  with  sheaves  of  grain.  There  was  a  column  4  feet 
in  diameter  and  30  feet  high  covered  from  top  to  bottom  with  corn  in  the 
ear.  Most  of  the  counties  of  the  State  exhibited  grain,  grasses,  vegetables, 
sugar  beets,  etc.  There  were  31  kinds  of  timber. 

Oregon  exhibited  grains,  grasses  and  fruit,  lumber,  fish,  oats,  wheat  and 
timber.  Texas  displayed  woods  of  all  kinds,  walnut,  cherry,  mulberry,  birch, 
locust,  pine,  hickory,  ash,  cypress  and  the  Judas  tree.  Arkansas  exhibited  58 
varieties  of  wood.  Minnesota  erected  a  pavilion  on  the  north  aisle  displaying 
wheat,  oats,  barley,  corn,  rye,  buckwheat,  millet  and  timothy,  most  artistically 
arranged.  There  was  a  pile  of  flour  in  sacks  from  floor  to  roof  containing 
1 20  varieties  of  flour  from  400  mills.  There  was  an  exhibit  of  flax  and 
another  of  wool.  The  State  Experimental  Farm  of  North  Carolina  made  an 
exhibit  of  photographs,  illustrating  fruits,  vegetables,  etc.,  descriptive  of 
intensified  farming.  Nearly  every  county  in  Kansas  was  represented  by  exhibits 


204 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


of  grains,  grasses  and  woods.  Montana  placed  a  large  forestry  exhibit  show- 
ing mountain  timber  standing.  A  small  section  of  a  forest  was  shown  in 
which  were  stuffed  wild  animals  and  birds.  The  Oklahoma  booth  was  deco- 
rated with  cotton.  Grains,  grasses,  vegetables  and  fruits  were  shown.  Utah 
exhibited  silk,  raw  and  manufactured;  also  an  exhibit  of  silkworms  at  work. 
North  Dakota  displayed  an  excellent  variety  of  grains.  The  Missouri  exhibit 
was  remarkable — showing  all  kinds  of  grain;  there  was  displayed  the  native 
cotton  on  stalk,  in  bulk  and  in  bales.  There  was  an  exhibit  of  wool  and 
tobacco,  forestry  and  grasses.  Idaho  displayed  wheat,  oats,  barley,  sugar  beets 
and  vegetables.  Illinois  displayed  an  immense  exhibit  of  grains,  native  woods, 
etc.  Wyoming  showed  sugar  beets,  grain  and  grasses.  Wisconsin  exhibited 
many  kinds  of  grain,  vegetables  and  woods.  Iowa  had  one  of  the  largest 
exhibits  in  the  building,  including  a  great  variety  of  grains,  seeds,  grasses 
and  woods.  Colorado,  in  addition  to  exhibiting  grains  and  grasses  and  seeds, 
showed  samples  of  soil.  In  the  Washington  exhibit  there  was  a  large  display 
of  lumber,  both  raw  material  and  manufactured  stuff.  There  was  one  log 
4  feet  in  diameter  and  90  feet  long.  There  was  a  display  of  wheat  and 
other  small  grain. 

The  agricultural  exhibit  was  said  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  ever  made,, 
illustrating  the  immense  strides  in  the  farming  industry  in  the  West.  Dimen- 
sions, of  the  building  were  148x400  feet  and  40  feet  high.  It  contained  84,260 
square  feet  floor  space. 


Nebraska  Fruit 


Description  of  General  Exhibits 


205 


Horticultural  Exhibit 

HORTICULTURE 

Competent  critics  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  exhibit  of  horticulture 
had  never  before  been  equaled.  The  interior  of  the  great  Horticulture  build- 
ing was  beautiful  beyond  description.  The  main  rotunda  was  roofed  by  an 
enormous  double  dome,  each  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  Corinthian  pillars,  form- 
ing the  imposing  and  striking  effect  of  an  arch  within  an  arch.  From  the 
middle  of  the  space  below  the  dome  arose  an  immense  pyramid  of  shrubbery, 
splendid  palms,  feathery  ferns  and  prickly  cactus,  carrying  this  foliage  well 
up  into  the  dome,  the  whole  surmounted  by  a  stately  century  plant  of  extraor- 
dinary size.  The  rotunda  was  beautiful  with  a  lavish  display  of  horticulture, 
forming  a  splendid  representative  exhibit.  All  told,  there  were  600  exhibitors 
in  the  horticulture  exhibit.  In  many  places  throughout  the  building  there 
were  urns  filled  with  rare  flowers  and  huge  hanging  baskets  of  ferns  and 
other  decorations  intended  to  produce  the  appearance  of  semi-tropical  con- 
ditions. There  were  pyramids  of  ferns,  tropical  plants  and  flowers  through 
and  about  which  trickled  streams  of  pure  water.  Inside  of  the  great  pyramid 
was  a  spring  of  cool  bubbling  water,  and  all  about  it,  springing  from  the  rocks, 


206  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

were  aquatic  and  flowering  plants.  There  were  many  exhibits  of  fruit  which 
were  replenished  with  fresh  supplies  frequently.  The  Nebraska  exhibit 
occupied  2,000  square  feet  and  contained  70  varieties  of  apples,  peaches,  pears, 
berries,  and  all  other  fruits  in  season.  California's  exhibit  consisted  of  apples, 
oranges,  lemons,  apricots,  berries  and  wines.  Late  in  June  a  carload  of  melons 
from  Texas  was  received,  and  on  July  i  the  melons  were  distributed  to  the 
people.  Missouri  exhibited  30  varieties  of  peaches,  apples,  plums,  cherries, 
berries,  etc.  Iowa  displayed  20  varieties  of  fruit.  There  were  notable  exhibits 
from  Oregon,  Kansas,  Idaho,  Colorado,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Texas,  Missouri, 
New  Mexico,  North  Dakota  and  North  Carolina.  California,  Nebraska,  Iowa 
and  Missouri  made  extensive  displays  of  wines  and  cider. 

The  Horticulture  building  stood  on  the  Bluff  tract.  It  was  a  structure 
of  great  beauty.  Its  architectural  plan  is  described  in  another  chapter.  It 
stood  in  the  center  of  park-like  grounds;  directly  in  front  of  it  a  fountain 
played  softly  into  a  basin  surrounded  by  shrubbery,  and  beds  of  shaded  velvet 
pansies  were  scattered  over  the  grass  plots.  The  landscape  gardener  worked 
out  his  plans  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Horticulture  building  to  a  degree  of  per- 
fection not  hitherto  attained. 

The  center  portion  of  the  building  was  300x300  feet,  with  wings  on  east 
and  west  300x70  feet,  29  feet  high,  with  center  dome  no  feet  in  height. 

THE  ART  EXHIBIT 

The  high  character  of  the  art  exhibit  from  an  artistic  standpoint,  no 
less  than  its  representative  character,  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  patrons 
of  the  Exposition.  Among  the  700  pictures  shown  were  many  by  the  greatest 
artists  of  the  earlier  periods  and  schools.  There  were  good  examples  of 
Corot,  Troyon,  Van  Marke,  Pourbus,  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  Titian,  Van 
Dyke  and  works  of  most  of  the  living  artists  of  eminence.  The  aim  was  to 
have  a  representative  exhibit  of  good  examples  of  the  best  painters  only,  and 
the  plan  succeeded  beyond  the  expectations  of  those  who  had  the  matter  in 
charge.  The  Fine  Arts  building  was  the  gathering  place  and  center  for  the 
large  number  of  persons  interested  in  art  and  artists.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  exhibit  was  the  most  potent  educational  feature  of  the  Exposition.  Mod- 
ern examples  of  reproductions  of  famous  masterpieces,  the  originals  of 
which  were  found  to  be  unavailable  for  exhibition  purposes,  were  gathered 
here.  To  persons  who  had  not  had  the  opportunity  of  visiting  the  foreign 
galleries  and  who  desired  to  know  something  of  the  historic  pictures,  this 
department  was  especially  instructive.  The  catalogues  were  complete  in  bio- 
graphical detail  of  the  artists  represented,  and  contained  about  forty  half-tone 
reproductions  of  pictures  suitable  for  such  process.  There  was  an  important 


Description  of  General  Exhibits  207 

collection  by  Scotch  artists  and  the  great  painting  "Charles  the  Bold  Entering 
the  Church  at  Lisle,"  by  Boybet,  from  the  Art  Exposition  at  St.  Louis.  A 
number  of  pictures  from  the  Nashville  Exposition  were  shown,  and  many  were 
loaned  by  art  institutions.  From  the  best  collections  of  private  citizens 
creditable  selections  were  made.  Aside  from  the  paintings  there  were  200 
black  and  white  drawings  loaned  by  the  Century  and  Scribner's  magazines — 
creations  of  the  foremost  painters  and  illustrators.  George  Busse  loaned  a 
collection  of  reproductions  of  drawings  of  highest  merit.  A  distinct  feature 
was  the  Copley  collection  of  reproductions  of  the  important  mural  and  decora- 
tive paintings.  There  was  a  fine  collection  of  Braune  autotypes,  comprising 
reproductions  in  carbon  of  the  masterpieces.  By  many  of  these  copies  visitors 
were  enabled  to  get  a  good  idea  of  the  best  art  of  the  world.  One  painting  that 
attracted  attention  was  the  "Return  of  Spring"  (nude  in  art  by  Borgereau), 
a  life-size  figure  of  a  young  woman  surrounded  by  cupids  and  flowers.  The 
picture,  valued  at  $50,000,  came  into  prominence  years  ago  when  hung  in  an 
art  loan  exhibit  in  Omaha.  At  that  time  a  young  man,  Gary  J.  Warbington. 
threw  a  chair  through  the  canvas,  which  was  subsequently  repaired.  It  now 
hangs  in  the  Lininger  gallery  of  Omaha.  The  group  of  pictures  indicated 
below  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention: 

"Students  on  a  Lark,"  by  Amell.  "The  Miniature,"  by  Birney.  "Dor- 
drecht," by  Boudin.  "Rocks  at  Low  Tide,"  by  Bricher.  "An  Awful  Yarn," 
by  Brown.  "After  the  Bath,"  by  Caliga.  "Souvenir  de  la  Tomise,"  by  Clays. 
"Departure  of  the  Fishermen,"  by  Dessar.  "A  Kitten  Family,"  by  Dolph. 
"In  the  Pasture,"  by  Dupre.  "Lord  Howe's  Levee,"  by  Ferris.  "Spanish 
Scene,"  by  Fortuny.  "Waste  Lands,"  by  Gay.  "Vegetable  Market,"  by  Gil- 
bert. "Surrender  of  New  Amsterdam,"  by  Harris.  "Departure  of  the  May- 
flower," by  Harrison.  "Autumn,"  by  Hassam.  "Norman  Bull,"  by  Howe. 
"Arabs  Bathing  Horses,"  by  Huguet.  "Gone,"  by  Joullin.  "St.  Ives,  Priez 
pour  Nous,"  by  Kendall.  "The  Seine  at  Paris,"  by  Lapostolet.  "Leaving  the 
Desert,"  by  Lazerges.  "Morning  in  the  Woods,"  by  Leigh.  "Minuet,"  by 
Lemaire.  "A  Wordless  Farewell,"  by  Lorenz.  "Boar  Hunt,"  by  Melin. 
"Last  Moments,"  by  Mosler.  "Dressing  the  Baby,"  by  Neuhuys.  "Sunlight 
on  the  Sea,"  by  Nicoll.  "Roses,"  by  Park.  "The  Widow,"  by  Berrault. 
"Neptune,"  by  Perry.  "Rabbit,"  by  Pirie.  "Hen  and  Chickens,"  by  Pirie. 
"Dawn,"  by  Reid.  "Off  Sark,"  by  Richards.  "Charles  the  Bold"  (frag- 
ment), by  Roybet.  "In  the  Pool,"  by  Sieber.  "The  Coming  Shower,"  by 
Wiles. 

In  the  statuary  department  were  many  fine  reproductions  in  marble, 
bronze  and  plaster.  One  wing  of  the  building  was  used  for  the  exhibition  of 
oil  paintings,  great  and  small,  which  adorned  the  walls.  The  other  wing  was 
devoted  to  a  display  of  water  colors,  pastels,  crayons,  and  black-and-white 


208 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Description  of  General  Exhibits  209 

work.  Each  wing  of  the  building  was  divided  into  two  large  and  four  smaller 
galleries.  The  galleries  in  either  building  surrounded  a  rotunda,  lighted  by  a 
large  Byzantine  dome.  The  rotundas  contained  statuary. 

The  French  Commissioner  of  the  Exposition,  Frederick  Mayer,  of  Paris, 
secured  a  special  concession  from  the  French  Government,  permitting  a  copy 
of  the  famous  statue  of  "Winged  Victory"  to  be  made  for  the  Exposition. 

"Winged  Victory"  is  one  of  the  most  famous  ancient  statues.  It  was 
unearthed  in  the  valley  of  Samothrace  in  1867,  by  a  representative  of  the 
French  Government.  It  was  in  fragments  and  was  removed  to  the  Louvre 
and  put  together.  About  eight  years  later  the  gigantic  pedestal  was  dis- 
covered, and  this  was  also  removed  to  the  Louvre,  where  pedestal  and  figure 
were  restored  to  their  original  positions  as  far  as  possible.  The  pedestal  rep- 
resents the  stony  prow  of  a  galley,  below  which  are  sea  waves.  The  figure, 
more  than  double  life  size,  towers  above  this  massive  and  lofty  hulk.  The 
statue  is  badly  mutilated,  but  it  shows  a  fully  draped  female  figure  which  has 
alighted  on  the  prow  of  a  ship,  sweeping  down  with  lightning  speed,  the 
powerful  form,  with  rushing  drapery,  seeming  to  force  a  way  for  this  impos- 
ing goddess  of  victory.  The  dainty  wings  of  the  goddess  are  extended,  and 
might  and  power  are  delineated  in  every  line  of  the  figure  and  drapery.  The 
figure  is  of  Parian  marble,  and  the  exquisite  nicety  with  which  every  detail 
is  worked  out  marks  this  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  the 
great  genius  of  the  Hellenic  sculptors  ever  discovered.  Careful  calculations 
by  antiquarians  place  the  origin  of  this  figure  in  the  third  century,  B.  C. 

In  the  open  court  between  the  wings  of  the  buildings  at  the  center  of  a 
peristyle  was  a  fountain  in  the  middle  of  a  garden  of  flowers,  while  scattered 
about  were  groups  and  single  figures  of  statuary.  The  success  of  the  fine  arts 
exhibit  was  due  to  the  discriminating  taste  of  Armand  H.  Griffith,  superin- 
tendent. As  director  of  the  Detroit  Museum  of  Art  Mr.  Griffith  had  knowl- 
edge of  the  means  of  getting  the  best  pictures.  He  was  assisted  by  com- 
mittees wrhose  membership  was  as  follows: 

Advisory  Committee — Paul  Charlton,  chairman;  C.  S.  Huntington,  F.  W. 
Parker,  Z.  T.  Lindsey,  C.  H.  Hamilton,  Clement  Chase,  Earl  W.  Gannett, 
\Y.  S.  Poppleton,  Herman  Kountze.  Honorary  Commissioners  and  Com- 
mittee of  Selection — Jules  Rolshoven,  England;  Frederick  Mayer,  France; 
Dr.  C.  Hofstedel,  De  Groot,  Holland;  W.  M.  R.  French,  Illinois;  John  L.  Grif- 
fith, Indiana;  Stephen  N.  Crosby,  Massachusetts;  Chas.  L.  Freer,  Michigan; 
Thos.  B.  Walker,  Minnesota;  F.  L.  Ridgley,  Missouri;  John  W.  Bookwalter, 
New  York;  Frank  Duvenick,  Ohio;  Daniel  Baugh,  Pennsylvania;  Theo. 
Cooley,  Tennessee;  John  L.  Mitchell,  Wisconsin. 


210 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Electrical  Exhibits 

MACHINERY  AND  ELECTRICITY 

The  electricity  exhibit  was  no  less  wonderful  than  that  of  the  Columbian 
Exposition  of  1893.  The  intervening  five  years  enabled  the  exhibitors  in  some 
of  the  branches  to  illustrate  the  advancement  made  in  the  expanding  science. 
To  that  extent  the  Omaha  exhibit  surpassed  the  Chicago  display.  Latest 
phases  of  development  in  the  art  of  applying  the  subtle  fluid  were  shown. 
Edison,  Tesla,  Thompson  and  Squiers  each  was  represented  in  some  instrument 
or  appliance  which  made  his  name  celebrated  in  the  scientific  world.  Most  of 
the  great  electrical  supply  companies  placed  interesting  exhibits,  while  the 
lighting,  telephone  and  telegraph  companies  made  comprehensive  exhibits 
illustrating  the  progress  made  in  those  branches  of  the  art.  The  mysterious 
power  was  illustrated  in  stages  of  evolution  from  the  primitive  glass  disc  for 
the  generation  of  frictional  electricity  with  its  necessary  adjunct,  the  Leyden 
jar,  down  to  the  mammoth  dynamo;  from  the  old,  original  "Hudson"  light 
of  1845  down  to  the  latest  improved  arc  and  incandescent  lights.  One  exhibit 
illustrated  the  formation  of  thunder  and  lightning  and  other  mysterious 
things;  another  showed  the  original  Edison  electric-light  dynamo.  There  \\;is 


Description  of  General  Exhibits  211 

a  display  of  dynamos  ranging  from  1-16  of  one  horsepower  to  1,000  H.P. 
Most  interesting  was  an  historical  exhibit  of  the  telephone  from  the  experi- 
mental stage  down  to  1898;  and  a  similar  exhibit  of  telegraphy,  from  the  old 
Morse  paper-tape  recording  instrument  down  to  the  multiplex.  Deep-sea 
electric  communication  was  illustrated,  as  was  an  improved  system  of  under- 
ground wiring,  together  with  devices  for  controlling  and  measuring  electricity. 
Methods  of  application  of  electric  heat  and  power  were  shown.  The  X-ray 
exhibit  was  highly  interesting. 

The  machinery  exhibit  was  limited  for  the  most  part  to  machinery  and 
engines  for  the  transmission  of  power,  together  with  tools  and  appliances 
required  by  artisan,  mechanic  and  farmer.  These  were  immense  stationary 
engines  and  many  others  ranging  in  size  down  to  the  diminutive  dynamo; 
printing  presses,  gasoline  engines,  pumps,  scales,  etc.  Of  two  small  steam 
engines,  one  could  have  been  placed  inside  of  a  small-size  pistol  cartridge — 
a  complete  horizontal  engine  in  perfect  running  order.  Another  exhibit  was 
a  complete  boiler  and  engine  which  made  its  own  steam  and  would  run  nearly 
20  minutes  with  20  drops  of  water. 

There  was  a  creditable  exhibit  of  everything  in  firearms,  including  the 
larger  projectiles  and  specimens  of  four-inch  Harveyized-steel  armor  pierced 
by  six-pound  steel  projectiles. 

There  was  a  comprehensive  exhibit  of  tools  of  all  kinds. 

The  exhibits  covered  14,404  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  7,500  square 
feet  of  gallery  space. 

In  the  powerhouse  at  the  north  end  of  the  Bluff  tract,  not  far  from  the 
north  viaduct  spanning  Sherman  Avenue,  there  was  a  massive  battery  of 
tubular  boilers  capable  of  transforming  tons  of  water  into  steam  hourly.  This 
plant  furnished  the  energy  for  the  mammoth  engines  which  transmitted 
power  to  all  parts  of  the  grounds,  and  for  the  dynamos  which  generated  the 
electricity  for  illumination.  This  vast  plant  of  machinery  was  installed  as 
exhibits,  and  was  visited  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people. 

MANUFACTURES 

The  general  exhibit  of  manufactures  was  open  to  the  world.  There 
were  linens  from  Belfast,  silks  and  carvings  from  the  Orient,  furs  from  the 
Russias,  woolens  from  Australia  and  Thibet,  laces  from  France,  cutlery  from 
England,  toys  and  art  goods  from  Germany — in  fact,  all  the  European  states 
were  represented  in  the  vast  array  of  manufactured  goods  displayed.  Articles 
of  domestic  manufacture  predominated,  forming  a  collective  exhibit  of  manu- 
factures of  surpassing  interest  and  value.  The  exhibit  booths  were  more 
elaborate  and  costly  than  those  of  any  other  building  and  presented  a  greater 
variety  of  design.  All  available  space  was  taken  and  exhibits  were  compactly 


212 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


placed.  The  display  of  packing-house  products  was  elaborate,  including  a  new 
system  of  meat  refrigeration.  This  embraced  a  huge  refrigerator  of  octagonal 
shape,  20  feet  in  smallest  diameter,  30  feet  high,  with  large,  doubled,  .plate- 
glass  sides,  mounted  on  a  circular  track  and  was  made  to  revolve  slowly  around 
its  axis  by  a  system  of  powerful  cogs  impelled  by  electricity.  It  contained 
all  kinds  of  dressed  meats.  Another  booth  was  constructed  entirely  of  canned 
meats  arranged  for  artistic  effects.  In  a  substantial  pavilion  near  the  center 
of  the  great  building  a  manufacturer  of  chocolate  gave  free  samples  of  his 
product.  From  the  upper  floor  of  this  booth  arranged  to  resemble  a  roof  gar- 
den, orchestral  concerts  were  given.  A  stove-pipe  maker  erected  a  booth 
entirely  of  planished  iron.  All  kinds  of  oil  were  exhibited  and  the  many 
biproducts  of  petroleum  were  shown.  There  were  large  exhibits  of  cut  glass, 
silverware,  jewrelry,  ecclesiastical  art  goods,  embroideries,  art  lingerie,  sewing 
machines ;  furnishings  for  both  sexes,  pure  foods,  leather  goods,  carvings  and 
art  work,  footwear  of  all  kinds,  ancient  and  modern,  from  all  parts  of  the 
world;  soaps,  perfumes,  confections,  etc.  There  were  large  exhibits  of  pre- 
pared foods.  The  wine-makers  and  brewers  made  fine-exhibits.  A  hat  factory 
in  operation  attracted  much  attention,  as  did  a  saddle  and  harness  factory. 


Manufactures  Exhibit 


Description  of  General  Exhibits  213 

Sewing  machines  in  operation  turned  out  samples  of  work  done.  In  the 
millers'  exhibit  section  a  small  mill  illustrated  the  process  of  the  manufacture 
of  flour.  There  were  several  exhibits  of  boots  and  shoes,  and  many  exhibits 
of  small  utensils  used  about  the  home.  Bread  and  cake  making  was  exem- 
plified in  a  cooking  school.  The  interior  of  a  model  home  was  shown,  contain- 
ing stores  and  household  furniture.  Exquisite  wearing  apparel  and  laces  of 
great  value  fascinated  feminine  visitors.  Every  contrivance  for  the  comfort 
and  convenience  of  mankind  was  seen  in  these  exhibits,  which  contained  the 
finished  products  of  the  genius  of  inventors.  To  describe  them  all  would 
require  far  more  space  than  can  here  be  devoted  to  the  subject.  The  diversified 
interests  represented  and  the  multiplicity  of  ideas  and  tastes  displayed  in  deco- 
rative effects  produced  combinations  which  were  harmonized  in  a  most  attrac- 
tive way,  presenting  a  picture  of  rare  beauty.  The  total  exhibit  space  on  the 
main  floor  was  49,669  square  feet,  and  in  the  gallery  19,884  square  feet,  all 
of  which  was  occupied.  In  the  gallery  were  placed  the  Hawaiian  and  Mexican 
exhibits,  consisting  of  manufactured  goods  and  the  raw  material  used  in 
making  them.  On  this  floor  also  were  placed  the  educational  exhibits,  which 
occupied  14,000  square  feet  of  space.  The  eas.t  end  was  covered  by  the  exhibits 
of  the  University  of  Nebraska  and  the  State  Normal  schools.  There  were 
contributions  from  183  high  and  graded  schools  and  322  rural  schools.  Out 
of  90  Nebraska  counties,  72  exhibited  drawings,  paintings  and  kindergarten 
work.  In  the  manual-training  exhibit  of  the  Omaha  high  school,  machinery 
in  motion  was  shown.  There  were  noteworthy  exhibits  from  the  Kearney 
Industrial  School  for  boys,  and  from  the  Geneva  School  for  girls,  from  the 
State  Institute  for  the  deaf,  the  State  Institute  for  the  blind,  business  colleges 
and  other  private  schools. 

LIBERAL  ARTS 

The  exhibit  of  the  liberal  arts  measured  the  progress  and  development 
of  taste  in  the  useful  and  ornamental  articles  of  everyday  use.  Distinguishing 
features  were  attractive  fabrics,  embroideries,  and  countless  articles  for  house 
adornment;  stained  glass,  art  furniture,  pianos,  musical  instruments,  drugs, 
chemicals,  fine  pottery,  typewriters,  improved  educational  appliances,  photo- 
graphic exhibits,  stoneware,  porcelains  of  elaborate  finish,  draperies  and  laces 
of  exquisite  beauty,  jewelry  and  bric-a-brac  from  all  countries,  furs  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  and  many  other  articles  of  utility.  A  large  exhibit 
showed  the  agrarian  products  of  the  world.  The  fiber  exhibit  of  the  U.  S. 
Government  was  complete,  showing  an  extensive  collection  of  varieties  of 
flax  and  hemp  from  various  States  and  foreign  countries.  The  Puget  Sound 
country  had  a  large  exhibit  on  panels,  ranging  from  the  raw  straw  as  har- 
vested to  bundles  of  flax  worth  $500  per  ton  and  ready  for  the  mills.  Samples 


214 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Emergency  Hospital 

from  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  the  Dakotas,  Iowa,  Washington,  Oregon, 
Nebraska  and  other  Western  States  were  shown.  There  was  an  exhibit  of 
four  cases  on  panels  showing  jute,  cotton,  ramie,  sisal,  palmetto,  cocoantit 
and  brush  fibers  from  the  South,  Cuba,  Mexico  and  the  Philippines.  An 
exhibit  of  corn-pith  cellulose,  used  for  packing  bulkheads  of  armored  vessels, 
attracted  attention.  The  women  of  Colorado,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Iowa. 
Minnesota  and  South  Dakota  placed  extensive  exhibits  of  lace,  needlework, 
fancy  embroidery,  etc.,  in  the  galleries,  occupying  a  large  portion  of  the  space. 
Creditable  displays  were  made  by  Columbia  College  and  the  Art  Institute  of 
Chicago.  There  were  several  interesting  and  excellent  exhibits  made  by 
colored  women's  associations  of  the  country.  The  numerous  booths  were 
tastefully  decorated.  The  total  space  covered  by  exhibits  aggregated  46,128 
square  feet. 

TRANSPORTATION  EXHIBIT 

A  building  of  large  dimensions  was  erected  especially  for  the  transportation 
exhibit — 300x430  feet.  The  exhibit  comprised  every  style  of  vehicle,  and 
illustrated  the  various  means  of  transportation  and  appliances  of  modern  rapid 


Description  of  General  Exhibits 


215 


transit.  There  was  also  a  large  exhibit  of  agricultural  implements.  Four 
railway  tracks  entered  the  building — 1,728  feet  of  track,  which  was  filled  with 
locomotives,,  coaches,  cars  and  railway  appliances.  There  was  a  palatial 
Pullman  vestibule  train  through  which  520,000  persons  passed  during  the 
Exposition  season.  There  were  types  of  early  locomotives,  and  those  of 
modern  pattern.  The  old  "Lincoln  coach"  was  exhibited.  It  was  an  armor- 
clad  coach,  built  in  1864  especially  for  President  Lincoln,  and  used  by  him 
in  making  journeys  during  the  Civil  War.  At  his  death  the  car  was  used 
to  convey  his  remains  to  Springfield.  It  was  exhibited  by  the  Union 
Pacific  Railway,  and  attracted  wide  attention.  In  this  great  exhibit  there 
were  wheeled  vehicles  and  instruments  used  in  many  lines  of  industry. 
Machines  were  exhibited  by  all  the  great  manufacturing  concerns  of  the 
country.  There  were  151  exhibitors  and  the  exhibits  covered  59,158  square 
feet. 

DAIRY— APIARY— FINE  STOCK 

The  dairy  and  apiary  exhibits  are  described  in  the  chapter  on  State 
Exhibits.  There  were  five  separate  butter  exhibits  in  each  class  during  June, 
July,  August,  September  and  October,  the  total  number  of  exhibitors  being 
205,  and  the  average  score  93.25.  The  exhibit  of  bee  industries  occupied 


Dairy  Exhibits  Building 


216 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


1,340  square  feet  in  the  apiary  building,  and  was  said  to  be  the  finest  exhibit 
of  its  class  ever  opened  to  the  public. 

The  fine  stock  exhibits  numbered  2,692,  compared  with  1,842  at  the 
World's  Fair  of  1893.  Cash  prizes  aggregating  $35,000  were  awarded.  This 
great  industry  was  well  represented,  there  being  exhibited  many  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  fancy  stock  ever  shown.  Judges  and  competitors  concurred  in 
the  opinion  that  the  exhibit,  in  many  respects,  had  never  been  surpassed. 


Nebraska  Exhibit  Building 


'.*)(?  TA\  LITTLE  more  than  a  generation  prior  to  the  opening 
of  the  Exposition,  the  ground  upon  which  it  was 
erected  was  the  abiding  place  of  a  once  powerful  tribe 
of  Indians.  To  the  northward,  perhaps  a  mile,  and  at  the  base 
of  the  declivity  which  marks  a  lower  plane  of  the  river  bottom, 
is  the  erstwhile  site  of  the  chief  village  of  the  Omahas  or 
Mahas  about  which  there  clusters  many  interesting  traditions 
of  the  tribal  life  of  an  Indian  nation  whose  chieftains  dominated 
a  wide  expanse  of  territory  for  centuries  prior  to  the  advent  of 
the  white  man.  Eastward  of  the  Exposition  site  and  halfway 
down"  the  side  of  the  bluff  from  which  the  Bluff  Tract  took 
its  name,  was  Sulphur  Spring,  first  discovered  by  the  red  man,  who 
pointed  it  out  to  the  pioneers,  explaining  that  its  sparkling  and  somewhat 
odoriferous  perpetual  fountain  possessed  a  mystic  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  tribal  medicine  man.  It  was  regarded  by  the  Indians  as  a  thing  of 
priceless  value.  Among  the  tall  trees  above  and  below  Sulphur  Spring, 
wandering  Indians  had  many  times  set  up  their  wigwams  and  located  their 
temporary  habitations.  In  fact,  the  region  round  about  the  Exposition  site 
was  rich  in  Indian  lore,  as  the  topography  of  the  country,  its  sightliness  and 
natural  beauty,  made  it  no  less  inviting  to  the  aborigine  than  it  has  ever  been 
to  the  white  man. 

For  a  decade  prior  to  the  Exposition  year  periodical  literature  had  devoted 
much  space  to  the  decadence  of  the  American  Indian.  Often  the  prediction 
was  expressed  that  before  the  lapse  of  another  generation  of  time  a  once 
populous  and  dominant  race  would  be  almost  extinct.  The  government, 
through  its  scientists  in  the  division  of  anthropology,  had  devoted  itself  to  a 
study  of  the  vanishing  race  of  redmen  and  had  begun  to  publish  large  volumes 
known  as  the  annual  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology.  There  existed  in 


220 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


the  minds  of  well-informed 
men  a  conviction  that  the 
slow  processes  of  time  and 
the  encroachments  of  a  re- 
lentless western  civilization 
were  working  to  the  ultimate 
extermination  of  the  race  of 
American  Indians. 

These  considerations  led 
to  the  idea  of  having  a  large 
congress  of  Indians  during 
the  Exposition  season  em- 
bracing representatives  of 
every  important  tribe.  The 
managers  believed  that  such 
an  assembly  of  the  various 
types  would  not  only  afford 
a  highly  attractive  spectacle, 
but  would  at  the  same  time 
possess  an  educational  value 
to  the  government  as  well 
as  to  the  patrons  of  the 
Exposition.  The  Exposition 
management  deemed  it  a  fitting  time  in  which  to  provide  for  an  assemblage 
of  the  various  tribes  of  Indians  who  would,  by  their  equipage,  dress,  actions 
and  participation  in  the  rites  and  ceremonies  peculiar  to  their  race,  show  to 
the  younger  generation  in  an  interesting  and  instructive  manner  the  kind 
and  character  of  people  the  early  settlers  had  for  neighbors.  The  Trans- 
Mississippi  region  has  been  the  scene  of  many  bloody  conflicts  waged  between 
Indians  and  white  men;  within  the  same  territory  had  been  put  forth  the 
greatest  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Indian  to  withstand  the  encroachment  of  his 
white  brother;  and  lastly,  it  was  in  that  section  where  the  Indian  was  forced 
to  acknowledge  for  all  time  the  superiority  of  the  Caucasian,  accept  the 
conditions  offered,  and  retire  peacefully,  if  not  willingly,  within  the  reservation 
provided  for  him.  In  light  of  these  facts  of  history  the  idea  of  holding  an 
Indian  congress  was  happily  conceived,  and  without  doubt  much  hitherto 
unknown  of  the  Indian  character  and  customs  was  learned  as  a  result  of  this 
exhibit,  while  the  Indians  themselves  enjoyed  fraternizing  with  members  of  the 
various  tribes  gathered  together,  and  the  ocular  demonstration  afforded  by  this 
nni(|iie  exhibit  enabled  thousands  of  visitors  to  see  what  the  government  had 
done  for  the  benefit  and  welfare  of  the  aborigines. 


A  Sioux  Chieftain 


Indian  Encampment 


221 


The  first  efforts  put  forth  to  secure  federal  legislation  looking-  to  the 
holding  of  an  Indian  congress  proved  futile,  but  finally  an  item  was  inserted 
in  the  Indian  appropriation  bill,  which  became  law  July  i,  1898,  appropriating 
$40,000  and  authorizing  the  holding  of  an  Indian  congress  at  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  Exposition.  The  Exposition  had  been  in  operation  a  month, 
nothing  had  been  done  toward  assembling  the  Indians  for  participation  in 
the  encampment  or  congress,  but,  despite  this  delay,  the  matter  was  taken  hold 
of  with  such  degree  of  energy  that  the  exhibit  (the  first  of  its  kind)  was 
presented  upon  August  4  and  proved  to  be  a  great  success.  The  Exposition 
•city  was  fortunately  located  within  easy  reach  of  the  large  Indian  reservations, 
and  it  was  not  difficult  to  assemble  many  families  of  the  Indians,  most  of  the 
tribes  being  represented  by  an  aggregate  number  of  some  500.  The  exhibit 
occupied  more  than  four  acres  of  ground  in  the  north  tract.  Upon  July  n, 
1898,  the  Department  of  the  Interior  detailed  Captain  W.  A.  Mercer,  of  the 
Eighth  United  States  Infantry,  then  acting  agent  of  the  Omaha  and  Winne- 
bago  agency,  Nebraska,  to  install  and  conduct  the  congress  of  Indian  tribes 
.at  the  Exposition;  and  on  July  13,  1898,  the  Department  granted  Mr.  J.  R. 
Wise,  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs,  leave  of 
absence,  and  appointed  him  as  assistant  manager  to  aid  Captain  Mercer  at 
the  Exposition.  Not  all  the 
Indians  expected  to  be 
present  on  opening  day  were 
on  hand,  but  the  exhibit  was 
an  entire  success,  about  450 
individuals  taking  part  in 
the  ceremonies.  The  Indians 
attending  the  congress 
brought  with  them,  as  far 
as  possible,  their  cooking 
utensils,  their  ponies,  and 
either  their  tepees  or  material 
with  which  to  make  them; 
tools  and  material  with 
which  to  prosecute  their  cus- 
tomary occupations,  and  the 
articles  they  made  were 
readily  disposed  of  to  patrons 
of  the  Exposition.  The 
Wichita  Indians  had  with 
them  a  typical  grass  house, 
Avhich  had  been  razed  from 


222  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

its  site  on  the  reservation,  hauled  to  the  railroad,  30  miles  distant,  and  then 
transported  by  rail  to  the  Exposition  grounds,  where  it  formed  an  interesting 
feature  of  the  Indian  settlement.  In  setting  it  up  the  original  materials  were 
used,  requiring  the  labor  of  several  squaws  for  about  one  week.  The  house  was 
built  in  a  substantial  manner,  the  inside  support  being  formed  of  a  square 
framework  of  stout  logs,  about  eight  inches  in  diameter,  planted  upright  in  the 
ground,  supporting  cross-pieces  of  the  same  size  laid  in  crotches  at  the  top. 
These  are  dome-shaped  structures,  and  the  circular  form  is  obtained  by  bending 
half-round  timbers  over  the  frame  above  mentioned,  said  timbers  being  driven 
into  the  ground  in  a  circular  trench.  To  the  above  are  then  attached  small 
flexible  poles,  at  regular  intervals,  from  the  ground  up,  being  fastened  with 
elm  bark.  The  structure  is  then  covered  with  grass,  the  coating  resembling 
a  thatched  roof.  Grass  doors  are  furnished,  a  smoke  hole  is  left  near  the 
top,  but  a  little  to  one  side  of  the  center,  while  in  the  middle  is  a  fire  hole  with 
a  support  from  which  to  hang  a  pot.  Seven  families  lived  in  the  grass 
house,  the  remainder  occupying  several  canvas  tents  adjoining.  There  was 
also  a  grassrthatched  arbor  built  in  the  same  fashion,  with  a  sweat  lodge  of 
willow  rods. 

At  the  close  of  the  Exposition  the  grass  house  was  purchased  for  the 
National  Museum,  and  the  materials  shipped  to  Washington  and  set  up  in 
the  National  Park. 

The  Kiowa  Apache  was  also  an  interesting  delegation,  every  man  and 
woman  coming  to  the  Exposition  dressed  in  full  buckskin,  beautifully  fringed 
and  beaded.  They  set  up  their  canvas  tepees  adjoining  the  Wichitas,  enclos- 
ing one  of  them  with  a  circular  wind-break  of  leafy  willow  branches,  after  the 
manner  of  the  winter  camps  of  the  plains  Indians.  Suspended  from  a  tripod 
in  front  of  the  same  tepee  was  a  genuine,  old-time  ''buffalo  shield" — the  last 
shield  remaining  in  the  tribe.  It  is  now  the  property  of  the  National  Museum. 

The  Sioux  were  conspicuous  by  their  eagle-feather  war  bonnets,  for  the 
wearing  of  which  they  evinced  a  special  fondness.  Following  the  custom  of 
the  plains  tribes  this  delegation  set  up  their  tepees  in  the  form  of  a  circle, 
many  of  them  being  very  tastefully  decorated.  The  language  of  this  tribe 
was  reduced  to  writing  many  years  ago,  as  a  result  of  which  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  men  are  able  to  correspond  with  each  other  in  their  tribal  language. 

The  Crow  delegation  proved  an  interesting  one  because  of  the  fact  that 
with  it  was  White  Swan,  a  former  scout  and  sole  survivor  of  the  Custer  massa- 
cre, in  1876,  in  which  notable  engagement  he  was  shot  and  hacked  almost  to 
pieces  and  finally  left  for  dead,  but  managed  to  save  his  life  by  covering  him- 
self with  the  blanket  of  a  dead  Dakota.  With  his  hearing  destroyed  by 
blows  of  the  tomahawk,  his  hands  crippled  by  bullets,  and  his  whole  body 


Indian  Encampment 


223 


covered  with  enduring  scars,  he  was  still  able  to  tell  the  story  in  fluent  sign 
language.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  tribe  of  Indians  has  never  been 
at  war  with  the  whites,  but,  on  the  contrary,  often  furnished  a  contingent  of 
scouts  for  the  Government  service  in  the  various  Indian  campaigns  of  that 
region. 

The  Omaha  Indians  had  with  them  Wah-tun-num-she,  a  warrior  73  years 
old,  who  recounted  in  an  interesting  manner  his  story  of  the  last  battle  his 


Sioux  Litter 

tribe  had  with  the  Sioux  in  Nebraska.  The  spot  where  the  battle  occurred  is 
now  occupied  by  the  city  of  Columbus.  It  was  the  name  of  their  tribe  which 
was  adopted  for  that  of  the  city  in  which  the  great  Trans-Mississippi  Exposi- 
tion was  held.  The  word  "Omaha"  signifies  upstream,  serving  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  tribes  which  iived  lower  down  the  stream.  Most  of  these 
Indians  now  live  in  frame  houses,  but  a  few  of  them  still  prefer  the  old-time 
earth  lodge. 

The  Flathead  delegation  was  a  small  one,  and  was  made  up  of  represen- 
tatives from  three  different  tribes  closely  allied,  speaking  practically  the 
same  dialect  and  having  the  same  dress  and  general  appearance.  Those  who 


224 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


sought  to  discover  flat  plates  on  these  Indians  were  unsuccessful,  as  the  fact 
is  they  are  "Flatheads"  only  in  name. 

The  Sac  and  Fox  tribes  were  well  represented.  These  Indians  live  in 
round-top  wigwams,  which  they  cover  with  mats  of  rushes,  and  carpet  the 
floors  thereof  with  like  material.  Several  of  these  wigwams  were  erected 
upon  the  grounds  and  covered  in  the  manner  above  indicated,  the  appearance 
of  which,  when  complete,  differs  in  structure  from  the  conical  tepee  of  the 
plains  tribes.  This  tribe  weave  rush  into  mats  and  do  fine  bead-work,  as  was 
demonstrated  by  the  delegation. 

The  Tonkawa  delegation  was  a  small  one,  but  interesting  from  the  fact 
that  they  were  on  the  verge  of  extinction;  further,  that  so  far  as  present 
knowledge  goes,  they  constitute  a  distinct  linguistic  stock,  and  are  the  only 
existing  cannibal  tribe  in  the  United  States,  while  historically  they  are  the 
sole  representatives  of  the  Indians  of  the  old  Alamo  mission,  whose  most 
tragic  incident  had  its  parallel  in  the  massacre  that  practically  wiped  out 
their  tribe.  There  were  only  53  survivors,  and  they  lived  on  land  allotted 
to  them  in  eastern  Oklahoma. 


Geronitno,  Apache  Chieftain 


Indian  Encampment 


225 


Kiowas 


No  little  interest  attached  to  the  band  of  Apache  Indians  from  Ft.  Sill, 
Okla.,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  famous  chief,  Geronimo,  was  of  their 
number,  together  with  his  able  lieutenant,  Nachie.  Being  military  prisoners 
they  were  housed  in  army  tents,  but  visitors  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
them  at  work  making  baskets,  canes,  and  beaded-work,  which  they  readily 
disposed  of. 

The  tepees  of  the  Blackfeet  Indians  attracted  no  little  attention  because 
of  the  fact  that  most  of  them  were  made  of  hides  of  deer  or  buffalo,  painted 
and  decorated  with  scenes  representative  of  the  chase.  The  tepees  of  the 
Assiniboines  were  also  covered  with  pictures,  the  painting  indicating  some  skill 
in  that  direction  on  the  part  of  the  artist. 

A  reproduction  in  miniature  of  the  Kiowa  camp  circle  as  it  was  pitched 
at  Medicine  Lodge,  Kans.,  in  1867,  proved  an  interesting  exhibit  and  was 
first  presented  to  the  public  in  connection  with  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposi- 
tion, occupying  a  small  space  at  the  east  end  of  the  Indian  village  and  being 
surrounded  by  a  fence  eight  feet  high.  The  time  of  the  gathering  depicted 
in  miniature  was  June,  the  season  of  the  blooming  of  the  cottonwood  tree, 
and  the  occasion  was  the  celebration  by  the  Kiowas  of  their  great  annual 
ceremonial  which  is  known  as  the  sun  dance,  or  torture  dance,  this  being  the 
last  great  gathering  of  the  tribe  before  the  signing  of  the  treaty  which  placed 


226  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

them  with  other  tribes  on  Government  reservations.  The  tribe,  according  to 
the  report  of  the  Commissioners,  consisted  of  about  1,000  people.  They 
were  encamped  in  a  circle  about  a  mile  in  diameter,  each  of  the  250  tepees 
being  set  with  precise  exactness,  facing  the  center  of  the  ring  and  at  a  uniform 
distance  therefrom  on  either  side.  The  miniature  reproduction  of  this  camp 
is  the  property  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  it  having  been  prepared  through 
the  efforts  of  Prof.  James  Mooney,  of  the  United  States  Ethnological  Bureau, 
who  expended  thereon  more  or  less  of  his  time  during  a  period  of  five  years. 
The  camp,  as  arranged  by  Prof.  Mooney,  was  80  feet  in  diameter  and 
consisted  of  80  tepees,  he  having  selected  those  deemed  to  possess  the  greatest 
interest  from  uniqueness  of  design  and  historic  association.  In  front  of  each 
tepee,  hung  on  a  tripod,  was  the  shield  emblematic  of  the  family  to  which  it 
belonged.  Passing  in  at  the  entrance  of  the  circle  which  was  on  the  south  in 
the  reproduction,  but  always  faced  the  east  in  the  original  encampments, 
the  first  tepee  on  the  left  was  that  of  the  family  of  the  man  whose  task  it  was 
to  provide  the  buffalo,  the  skin  of  which  was  used  in  the  sun  dance.  When 
the  day  was  set  for  the  propitiatory  ceremony,  he  was  obliged  to  go  without 
food  until  he  had  captured  his  animal.  The  office  of  "Buffalo  man"  was 
hereditary  and  was  considered  the  highest  honor,  as  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
his  tepee  was  allotted  the  first  place  in  the  circle.  The  second  was  the  warrior 
tepee.  Its  decorations  consisted  of  numerous  pictures  representing  battles  in 
which  the  famous  warriors  of  the  tribe  had  achieved  distinction.  It  was 
painted  by  the  warrior  himself  and  the  occasion  was  one  of  feasting  and  sports. 
In  the  miniature  tepee  these  pictures  were  reproduced  by  one  man.  A  little 
farther  around  the  circle  was  the  tepee  belonging  to  the  only  remaining  signer 
of  the  peace  treaty.  It  was  decorated  with  black  and  white  circles.  Near  this 
was  the  porcupine  tepee,  the  property  of  the  last  chief  of  the  tribe.  Almost 
opposite  the  entrance  was  the  turtle  tepee,  made  by  one  of  the  famous  medicine 
men  of  the  tribe.  Next  to  this  was  the  home  of  a  member  of  the  tribe,  who 
claimed  to  understand  the  language  of  owls.  One  of  the  birds,  wrapped  in  a 
red  cloth,  hung  to  the  pole  before  the  door.  Following  the  circle  around,  the 
visitor  passed  several  tepees  decorated  with  rude  pictures  of  water  monsters, 
eagles  and  rainbows.  Then  came  the  scalp  tepee,  hung  with  a  collection  of 
scalp-locks  taken  from  enemies  in  battle.  Day  and  night  were  represented 
on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  next,  with  fantastic  representations  of  the  sun  and 
stars.  Conspicuous  among  the  shields  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  was  one 
painted  with  representations  of  rain  drops,  from  which  the  name  of  "rain 
tepee"  was  given  to  the  home  of  the  owner. 

The  Kiowa  Apaches,  an  associated  tribe  of  the  Kiowas,  were  assigned  to 
a  place  in  the  circle  adjoining  the  entrance  on  the  right  hand  side.     Their 


Indian  Encampment 


•I'll 


chief,  "Whiteman,"  occupied  a  tepee  decorated  with  the  arms,  a  bear,  which 
was  his  guardian.  In  front  of  the  door  stood  a  shaft  of  wood  wrapped  with  a 
beaver  skin.  This  he  carries  into  battle  and  drives  into  the  ground  to  fasten 
himself  to  the  spot  where  he  takes  his  stand.  In  the  center  of  the  circle 
stood  the  medicine  lodge  built  for  the  celebration  of  the  dance  which 
called  all  of  the  members  of  the  tribe  together  once  a  year.  This  was  built  of 
cottonwood  branches  interwoven  on  17  poles  standing  in  a  circle  round  the 


Ghost  Dance  of  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes 

center  poles  seven  paces  apart.  Hanging  to  the  center  pole  was  the  medicine 
image,  which  wras  kept  hid  in  a  bag  under  strict  surveillance  of  the  priests 
during  the  year,  and  only  brought  out  at  the  annual  June  festival.  It  was  the 
head  and  shoulders  of  a  man  carved  out  of  stone  and  grotesquely  painted. 
Above  the  image  hung  a  strip  of  buffalo  skin  cut  from  a  point  a  little  in  front 
of  the  ears  to  the  tail.  This  was  wrapped  around  a  branch  of  cottonwood. 
An  arbor  of  cottonwood  boughs,  which  formed  the  secret  chamber  of  the 
priests  during  the  dance,  completed  the  interior  of  the  lodge.  The  shields, 
all  of  which  were  consecrated  to  the  sun,  were  arranged  in  rows  front  and 
back  of  the  lodge.  All  were  painted  yellow — the  sun  color — and  decorated 


228  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

according  to  the  designs  revealed  in  visions.  Those  facing  the  entrance  were 
arranged  in  two  lines  of  seven  and  five  respectively.  Behind  the  lodge  were 
nine  others,  hung  on  poles,  and  two  on  tripods  painted  black  and  white.  These 
stood  before  the  tepee  which  was  occupied  by  the  priests  in  preparing  the 
ceremony.  The  dance  for  which  these  elaborate  preparations  were  made  was 
a  propitiatory  sacrifice  to  the  sun  god  or  medicine  image.  It  continued  for 
four  days  and  nights,  during  which  time  those  who  participated  in  it  took 
neither  food  nor  sleep.  The  dancers  offered  themselves  as  voluntary  sacrifices. 
Some  painted  themselves  yellow,  meaning  that  they  intended  to  hold  to  the 
end;  others  covered  their  bodies  with  white  chalk,  which  signified  that  they 
would  dance  as  long  as  their  strength  would  allow.  With  their  arms  hanging 
at  their  sides  and  the  eagle  bone  whistle  in  their  mouths,  they  circled  around 
and  around  the  lodge,  keeping  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  image.  While  the 
dance  is  sometimes  called  the  torture  dance,  there  was  no  cutting,  as  the  sight 
of  blood  was  abhorrent  to  the  god  in  whose  honor  it  was  given.  The  minia- 
ture reproduction  of  the  Kiowa  circle  exhibits  with  a  minuteness  of  detail  all 
the  features  of  the  original.  Each  part  of  the  exhibit,  even  to  the  whittling 
of  the  tepee  poles,  was  prepared  by  members  of  the  Kiowa  tribe.  Each  tepee 
was  made  by  some  member  of  the  family  who  occupied  the  original.  This 
was  in  accordance  with  the  Indian  custom,  which  allows  no  one  to  imitate  in 
any  way  the  property  of  another  family. 

The  Pueblos  were  housed  in  adobe  or  sun-dried  brick  buildings  erected 
by  them  with  brick  they  had  previously  made  on  the  ground  in  a  primitive 
manner. 

Interesting  ceremonies  were  carried  out  by  the  various  Indian  tribes, 
notably  the  ghost  dance  of  the  plains  tribes,  the  mounted  horn  dance  of  the 
Wichitas  and  the  war  dance  and  devil  dance  of  the  Apache,  the  latter  per- 
formed at  night  by  firelight,  a  clown  and  other  masked  characters  taking  part. 

Indulgence  in  a  dog  feast  was  one  of  the  incidents  enjoyed  by  the 
Indian  during  his  sojourn  on  the  Exposition  grounds.  In  order  to  be 
entitled  to  partake  of  the  feast  an  Indian  must  have  been  a  warrior  at  some 
time  in  his  existence,  and  besides  this  he  must  have  returned  to  his  people 
with  some  scalps  attached  to  his  girdle.  These  scalps,  of  course,  can  be  those 
of  white  people  or  of  Indians.  In  looking  the  camp  over,  it  was  found  that 
there  were  about  forty  Indians  who  had  done  something  to  entitle  them  to 
eat  dog  flesh.  When  a  suitable  dog  was  found  the  squaws  skinned  and  cooked 
it.  Everybody  had  to  take  a  look  at  the  clog,  and  every  few  minutes  during 
the  afternoon  some  Indian  would  walk  up  to  the  kettle,  give  the  dog  a  turn 
with  a  stick,  and  go  away  satisfied.  When  it  was  announced  that  the  dog 
was  ready  to  be  eaten  a  Blackfeet  Indian  mounted  a  dry  goods  box  and 


Indian  Encampment  229 

delivered  a  short  speech  commending  the  Indians  about  him  and  referring  in  a 
forcible  way  to  the  many  acts  of  bravery  that  they  had  performed,  stating  it 
was  not  often  so  many  Indians  or  so  many  different  tribes  got  together  to 
eat  dog  flesh  and  for  that  reason  the  occasion  should  be  regarded  as  a  most 
memorable  one.  The  Indian  was  greeted  with  applause  as  he  concluded  his 
speech.  No  second  invitation  was  required,  and  immediately  such  Indians 
as  had  an  indisputed  right  to  eat,  gathered  around  the  kettle  and  began  fishing 
out  pieces  of  the  animal.  There  was  enough  to  go  around,  but  none  to  spare, 


Sham  Battle 


After  the  feast,  those  who  had  partaken  of  it  formed  around  the  kettle  and 
dying  embers  and  joined  in  a  dance.  Later  a  dance  was  indulged  in  by  all  the 
Indians  without  regard  to  whether  they  had  eaten  or  not.  The  utensils, 
weapons,  ceremonies,  customs  and  domestic  life  of  the  Indian  were  as  nearly 
as  possible  represented  just  as  they  existed  when  Lo  was  leading  his  former 
free  life  in  the  forest  or  on  the  plains. 

By  the  student  such  exceptional  opportunities  for  studying  the  Indian 
and  his  ways  were  duly  appreciated  and  to  him  the  matters  referred  to  in  the 
foregoing  were  of  much  interest.  To  a  large  majority  of  the  Exposition 


230  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

visitors  the  feature  of  the  Indian  exhibit  was  the  sham  battle  indulged  in  by 
the  red  skins  at  stated  intervals.  These  battles  were  planned  in  such  a  way 
as  to  display  the  Indian's  fearlessness,  agility,  horsemanship,  etc.,  all  of 
which  features  were  fully  brought  out  and  when  the  contending  braves 
mingled  one  with  the  other  in  the  excitement  of  the  fray,  the  spectacle  took 
on  so  realistic  an  appearance  that  the  onlooker  was  often  carried  away  with 
the  excitement  of  the  moment.  These  contests  were  entered  into  with  zest 
on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  and  upon  the  occasion  of  the  visit  to  the  Exposition 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  an  especially  elaborate  program  was 
carried  out,  the  Indians  appearing  in  their  very  best  garb  and  decorated  with 
all  the  war  paint  the  occasion  would  warrant.  So  enthusiastic  did  the  Indians 
become  in  their  efforts  to  entertain  the  Great  Father,  that  it  was  with  difficulty 
they  were  persuaded  to  desist  from  shooting  at  each  other — and  in  fact,  but 
few  of  them  did  desist  short  of  firing  the  last  blank  cartridge  which  had 
been  served  to  them.  A  retreat  of  the  Indians  was  frequently  a  feature  of  the 
sham  battles,  and  on  such  occasions  the  squaws  would  break  camp  and  in  an 
incredibly  short  space  of  time  the  tents  and  contents  were  packed  on  the  backs 
of  their  ponies,  or  otherwise  disposed  of  for  movement  to  the  rear.  Another 
incident  of  these  sham  battles  was  the  capture  of  prisoners  and  the  burning 
of  them  at  the  stake.  However,  before  any  serious  harm  befell  these  prisoners 
the  tide  of  battle  changed  and  their  rescue  was  effected.  The  following 
description  of  the  plan  of  one  of  these  battles  will  serve  for  an  understanding 
of  the  general  character  of  all :  The  Sioux,  the  Wichitas,  the  Kiowas  and 
the  Assiniboines  came  into  camp  writh  a  prisoner  of  the  Blackfeet.  They  tied 
the  victim  to  a  stake  and  piled  brush  about  his  feet.  Round  and  about  him 
the  Indians  danced  and  taunted  him  in  anticipation  of  the  burning.  A  couple 
of  scouts  were  thrown  out  to  protect  the  camp  from  the  enemy.  The  latter 
located  the  camp  of  the  Blackfeet,  but  while  they  were  spying  about  it  they 
were  killed  and  scalped  by  a  couple  of  scouts  of  the  enemy.  The  latter  rushed 
into  their  camp  with  information  of  the  other  encampment,  and  just  as  the 
match  was  applied  to  the  brush  about  the  feet  of  the  victim  at  the  stake,  the 
Blackfeet  descended  upon  the  Sioux  and  swept  them  away.  In  the  fight  four 
prisoners  were  taken,  and  the  now  victorious  party  were  preparing  for  a 
stake  burning  of  their  own.  But  before  their  arrangements  were  completed 
the  Sioux  had  secured  reinforcements  and  returned  to  rescue  their  tribesmen. 
A  pitched  battle  ensued,  in  which  men  were  killed  and  scalped  and  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  warriors  were  mutilated  by  the  women  of  the  respective  parties. 
Among  incidents  of  the  Indian  congress  the  following  may  be  mentioned : 
A  few  days  after  the  opening  of  the  Indian  congress  a  son  was  presented  to 
her  spouse  by  Mrs.  Spotted  Back.  A  remarkable  coincidence  is  connected 


Indian  Encampment 


231 


with  the  birth  of  little  Spotted  Back  in  that,  32  years  before,  his  mother's 
people  were  passing  through  Omaha  and  camped  for  the  night  at  Sulphur 
Spring  under  the  bluff  east  of  the  Nebraska  State  building.  Here  during  the 
evening  the  mother  of  little  Spotted  Back  was  born.  The  place  is  less  than  a 
mile  from  where  the  little  fellow  in  the  Omaha  camp  was  born. 

An  Indian  brave  died  during  the  encampment  and  was  buried.  Before 
being  placed  in  the  coffin  his  hair  was  carefully  braided,  a  winding  sheet  of 
soft  blue  material  was  laced  around  him,  and  he  was  dressed  with  fine 


Dress  Parade 

leggins  and  moccasins.  Food,  water,  tobacco,  etc.,  were  placed  in  his  coffin 
to  furnish  sustenance  and  comfort  during  his  long  journey  to  the  happy  hunt- 
ing grounds.  At  the  grave-side  the  brave's  arms  were  freed  from  the  shroud 
and  each  of  his  friends  took  a  parting  handshake. 

The  Indians  were  reviewed  by  President  McKinley  during  his  visit  to 
the  Exposition.  Tribe  by  tribe  passed  before  him,  the  leader  of  the  various 
tribes  being  introduced  to  him  by  name.  First,  came  the  women  in  blankets 
covered  with  brilliant  figures  in  red,  green,  yellow  and  blue ;  some  were 
accompanied  by  toddling  children  and  others  had  pappooses  strapped  to  their 
backs.  Then  came  the  warriors  on  foot,  bedecked  in  gaudy  costumes,  and 


232  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

finally  came  the  horsemen.  The  salutations  with  which  the  Indians  greeted 
the  President  were  interesting  and  novel.  Few  removed  their  head-gear. 
The  first  to  salute  the  President  was  Geronimo,  the  once  dreaded  chief  of  the 
Apaches.  He  doffed  his  head-gear  and  a  dignified  smile  passed  over  his 
wrinkled  features  as  he  made  obeisance.  He  was  the  only  Indian  who  had 
discarded  the  dress  of  savagery,  and  he  appeared  in  scout's  uniform  with  a 
few  brilliant  adornments. 

After  the  sham  battle  the  Indians  lined  up  as  spectators  and  sent  word 
to  the  President  through  Captain  Mercer  that  they  had  been  introduced  to 
him,  and  they  now  wanted  that  he  should  be  introduced  to  them.  To  this 
request  the  President  acceded,  and,  hat  in  hand,  he  started  at  one  end  of 
the  line  and  went  to  the  other.  Captain  Mercer  introduced  him  to  the  Indians 
with  "This  is  the  President."  The  President  bowed  and  passed  to  the  next. 

General  Miles  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  Indian  fighters  in  the  history 
of  the  country.  It  was  he  who  captured  Geronimo  and  negotiated  the  terms 
of  surrender.  During  the  Jubilee  week  General  Miles  and  members  of  his 
staff  occupied  front  seats  in  the  reserved  section,  and  the  Indians  from  the 
camp  were  lined  up  for  review.  Geronimo  looked  up  into  the  thousands  of 
faces,  apparently  trying  to  locate  a  familiar  one.  Finally  he  caught  sight  of 
General  Miles  and  looked  steadily  at  him  for  perhaps  a  couple  of  minutes, 
and  then,  dismounting  from  his  horse,  he  started  toward  the  seats.  He 
brushed  aside  the  crowd  with  his  hands  and  was  soon  at  the  side  of  General 
Miles.  Mustering  the  best  English  at  his  command,  he  extended  his  hand 
and  exclaimed :  "How,  General,  I  am  glad  to  see  you."  The  General 
reached  for  the  extended  hand,  but  suddenly  it  was  withdrawn,  and  instantly 
Geronimo  clasped  the  white  warrior  in  his  embrace  and  hugged  him  as 
affectionately  as  would  a  father  who  had  not  seen  his  son  for  years.  The 
embrace  was  returned  by  General  Miles,  and  for  several  minutes  the  great 
chiefs  stood  there,  neither  saying  a  word.  The  head  of  Geronimo  dropped 
over  on  General  Miles'  shoulder,  and  the  old  man  appeared  as  contented 
as  a  babe  laying  its  head  upon  the  breast  of  its  mother.  Unclasping  their 
arms,  Geronimo  grasped  both  of  the  General's  hands  in  his  and  pumped  them 
up  and  down  vigorously,  then  let  them  go,  only  to  clasp  them  again.  When  the 
real  meaning  of  this  greeting  was  understood  by  the  audience  a  cheer  went 
up  that  was  echoed  far  and  near,  and  was  taken  up  by  the  Indians  and  carried 
to  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  camp.  After  the  friendly  greeting  between 
the  two  men,  General  Miles  took  from  the  coat  that  he  was  wearing  a  Peace 
Jubilee  badge  and  pinned  it  to  the  blue  uniform  worn  by  Geronimo.  The 
old  chief  looked  at  it  in  a  most  admiring  manner,  and  simply  responded 
"Good."  After  that  both  occupied  chairs  near  together,  and  both  seemed 


Indian  Encampment  233 

interested  in  the  battle  that  ensued.  Later  they  held  a  conversation  through 
the  medium  of  an  Apache  interpreter. 

During  the  closing  days  of  the  Exposition,  it  was  a  familiar  sight  to 
see  wagons  piled  high  with  empty  trunks  making  distribution  of  same  among 
the  Indians.  It  was  estimated  that  400  trunks  found  their  way  into  the  Indian 
congress.  Every  buck  or  squaw  possessing  $2.50  bought  a  large  trunk,  and 
those  possessing  $4.00  bought  very  large  ones.  Quality  did  not  figure.  While 
other  Indians  were  busying  themselves  in  getting  their  things  packed  up  ready 
for  starting  homeward,  Geronimo  turned  many  an  honest  penny  by  selling  his 
autograph  and  pictures,  charging  50  cents  and  a  dollar  for  each.  The  Sioux 
were  the  last  of  the  Indians  to  leave  the  Exposition  grounds  for  home. 

American  Horse,  a  man  who  had  always  been  a  power  among  the  Sioux 
Indians,  and  who  has  always  been  a  staunch  friend  of  the  whites,  happened 
to  discover  General  Miles  soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  battle.  Dropping 
his  gun,  he  hurried  into  the  grandstand  and  was  soon  greeting  the  General  in 
a  most  cordial,  though  not  affectionate,  manner.  American  Horse  has  always 
been  a  great  admirer  of  General  Miles,  and  has  always  referred  to  him  as  the 
"Great  White  Chief."  He  had  not  seen  the  General  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  it  was  the  great  desire  to  see  him  that  brought  him  from  his  home, 
500  miles  away. 


THE  manifold  attractions  incident  to  a  great  exposi- 
tion afforded  good  basis  for  a  call  to  moving  spirits 
of  many  parties,  societies,  leagues,  lodges,  who 
had  not  yet  chosen  meeting  places  for  their  annual  gatherings. 
The  entire  country  was  scoured  for  information  leading  to 
prospective  conventions,  congresses,  etc.,  and  many  agencies  were 
exerted  to  induce  the  men  in  control  of  such  bodies  to  appoint  Omaha 
as  the  meeting-place  in  1898.  From  the  very  beginning  of  organized 
effort,  the  Department  of  Promotion  engaged  in  a  campaign  to  make 
Omaha  pre-eminently  the  convention  city  during  the  months  of  the 
Exposition.  This  was  done  by  enlisting  the  co-operation  of  all  classes 
of  men  in  Nebraska  affiliating  with  the  various  organizations  or  societies 
whose  annual  meetings  for  1898  had  not  yet  been  fixed.  In  this  work 
the  Commercial  Club  did  good  service  in  the  way  of  pointing  out 
Omaha's  attractions,  and  giving  assurance  of  ample  hotel  facilities. 
Obviously  this  campaign  was  most  successful  during  1897,  anc^  en&age~ 
ments  were  for  the  most  part  made  by  vote  of  the  annual  conventions  that  year. 
The  net  result  was  that  nearly  one  hundred  conventions,  congresses,  national 
and  state  gatherings  of  fraternal  societies,  etc.,  were  secured  for  1898. 
A  glance  at  the  list  appended  will  enable  the  reader  to  see  that  in  most 
cases  it  was  possible  to  enlist  the  active  aid  of  a  few  local  members  of 
each  body  or  society  in  efforts  to  secure  the  annual  meetings.  The  more 
important  events  are  indicated  as  follows : 


The  Mixed  Congress 
Royal  House  of  Midi 
Daughters   of   Sphinx 
National  Cricket  Clubs 
National   Indian   Institute 
Trans-Mississippi  Turnfest 


National  Philatelic  Society 
National  Dental  Congresses 
Society  of  American  Florists 
Nebraska  Dental  Association 
The  Western  Star  Court 
Swedish   Epworth   League 


236 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Liberal  Congress  of  Religions 
Nebraska  Veteran  Free  Masons 
Western  Negro  Press  Association 
Afro-American   Protective   League 
American  Institute  of  Homeopathy 
Danish  Lutheran  Church  of  America 
National  Association   of   Postal   Clerks 
National  Pure  Food  Congress 
Western  Editorial   Federation 
Nebraska    Retail   Grocers'   Association 
Nebraska  State  Jewelers'  Association 
Grand  Commandery  Knights  Templar 
Nebraska   State   Pharmaceutical   Society 
Western   District   Bohemian   Tournament 
National  Convocation  of  Women's  Clubs 
National  Funeral  Directors'  Association 
National  Convocation  of  Bohemian  Turners 
Association   of   Theatrical    Stage   Employes 
Scottish  Rite  Masons  of  the  United  States 
American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers 
National  Association  of  Dental  Examiners 
National  Household  Economic  Association 
Nebraska  Grand  Lodge  Knights  of  Pythias 
National  Bee-Keepers'  Association 
National  Eclectic  Medical  Society 
Nebraska  Eclectic  Medical  Association 
Nebraska  Saengerbund  Saengerfest 
State  Federation   of  Women's   Clubs 
Old  Time  Telegraphers'  Association 
American  Association  of  Nurserymen 
United  States  Veterinary  Association 
Western    Association    of    Wholesale    Nur- 
serymen 

Superintendents  of  Railway  Telegraph 
Grand  Lodge  of  Nebraska  A.  F.  &  A.  M. 
National  Association  of  Dental  Faculties 
National  League  of  Republican  Clubs 
National  Poultry  Association 
National  Live  Stock  Exchange 
American  Forestry  Association 
American  Fisheries  Association 
Nebraska  State  Medical  Society 
National  Congress  of  Musicians 


Independent  Order  of  Foresters 

National  Detective  Association 

Swedish  Evangelical  Convention 

Dairymen's  National  Association 

Travelers'  Protective  Association 

The  American  Maize  Propaganda 

National  Good  Roads  Parliament 

National  Labor  Congress 

National  Congress  Retail  Liquor  Dealers 

State  Association  Retail  Liquor  Dealers 

Nebraska  State  Photographers'  Association 

Trans-Mississippi  Fruit  Festival  Associa- 
tion 

Western  Traveling  Men's  Accident  Asso- 
ciation 

Nebraska  State  Homeopathic  Medical  So- 
ciety 

National  Encampment  of  Sons  of  Veterans 

Trans-Mississippi  Convention  of  Photog- 
raphers 

American  Association  of  Fairs  and  Expo- 
sitions 

American  State  Association  of  State 
Weather  Service 

Fire  Underwriters'  Association  of  the 
Northwest 

Annual  Convention  of  American  Cemetery 
Superintendents 

The  Society  of  the  United  States  Military 
Telegraph  Corps 

United  League  of  Building  &  Loan  Asso- 
ciations 

American  Association  of  Farmers'  Institute 
Managers 

Annual  Tournament  of  Northwestern 
Cricket  Associations 

The  Western  Surgical  and  Gynecological 
Associations 

General  Assembly  of  United  Presbyterian 
Church 

Nebraska  State  Association  of  Funeral 
Directors 


CONGRESSES  AND  BOARD   OF   EDUCATION 

The  management  and  control  of  the  congresses  of  philosophic  and 
scientific  societies,  the  educational  features  of  the  Exposition,  as  well  as  all 
branches  of  woman's  work  were  assigned  to  the  Board  of  Education,  com- 
posed exclusively  of  women.  The  officers  of  the  board  were  as  follows : 
President,  Mrs.  Winona  Sawyer,  Lincoln;  Vice-Presidents,  Mrs.  Thos.  L. 


Conventions  and  Congresses 


237 


Kimball,  Omaha;  Mrs.  Kittie  L.  Button,  Hastings;  Mrs.  Frank  Johnson, 
Crete;  Secretary,  Mrs.  Frances  M.  Ford,  Omaha.  The  members  of  the 
board  were  chosen  from  prominent  cities  in  Nebraska  and  Iowa.  The  board 
had  charge  of  the  exhibits  of  public  schools,  kindergartens,  manual  training 
and  industrial  schools,  art  schools,  reform  schools  and  all  schools  of  special 
instruction.  The  Boys'  and  Girls'  building,  of  beautiful  design,  costing  nearly 
$10,000,  was  erected  by  the  board  from  funds  contributed  by  school  children 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States. 

Under  authority  and  direction  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  there  were 
sixty-four  meetings  of  congresses  and  educational  gatherings,  some  of  which, 
being  of  national  importance,  attracted  hither  many  noted  men  and  women. 


Mrs.  Winona  B.  Sawyer 


Mrs.  T.  L.   Kimball 


Mrs.  William  Dutton 


The  Congress  Committee  consisted  of  Mrs.  Keysor,  Mrs.  Sawyer,  Mrs.  Reed, 
Mrs.  Feil,  Mrs.  Sudborough,  Mrs.  Towne  and  Mrs.  Martin.  There  was  a 
committee  on  program  and  another  on  ways  and  means. 

The  congress  on  art  held  a  three-days'  session.  The  chief  feature  was 
a  series  of  illustrated  lectures  on  art  topics  by  the  best-known  critics  and 
artists  in  the  West. 

The  congress  on  music  was  of  four  days'  duration,  and  presented  pro- 
grams of  absorbing  interest,  containing  the  names  of  over  thirty  artists  and 
composers.  Indian  music  day  proved  to  be  highly  attractive.  Miss  Alice 
Fletcher,  of  Harvard  University,  and  Miss  Frances  La  Flesche,  of  Wash- 
ington, gave  results  of  original  investigations,  while  a  group  of  Omaha 
Indians  illustrated  the  addresses  by  native  songs. 

The  last  item  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  Indian  congress  was  a 
banquet  given  to  the  Indians  by  Captain  Mercer.  For  this  feast  he  had 


238  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

ordered  a  big,  fat  steer,  two  sheep,  two  hogs,  ten  bushels  of  potatoes,  five 
barrels  of  apples  and  one  thousand  loaves  of  bread.  The  fireplace  was  built 
just  south  of  the  adobe  house  of  the  Pueblos.  All  night  long  the  carcasses 
roasted  and  sizzled  over  the  embers  from  cords  of  dry  hickory,  and  at  ten 
o'clock  the  following  morning  all  was  ready.  The  Indians  had  expressed  a 
wish  to  be  alone  on  this  occasion,  saying  that  they  wanted  to  eat  one  meal 
without  being  gazed  upon  by  the  white  people.  Their  wishes  were  respected. 
The  barbecue  given  by  Captain  Mercer  to  the  Indians  at  the  congress 
undoubtedly  had  beneficial  effect  looking  to  the  growth  of  a  still  better  feeling 
upon  the  part  of  the  Indians  toward  the  white  man.  That  the  feast  was 
greatly  enjoyed  by  the  Indians  goes  without  saying,  and  it  was  a  happy 


Mrs.  W.  W.   Keysor  Mrs.  W.   P.  Harford 

termination  of  an  exhibit  the  like  of  which  was  never  before  seen,  and  the 
possibility  is  extremely  remote  for  a  reproduction  in  future  of  an  exhibit 
of  the  kind  which  would  in  any  considerable  degree  possess  the  same  value 
from  an  ethnological  standpoint,  or  even  from  the  standpoint  of  an  interesting 
exhibit  of  the  Indian  in  his  primitive  condition. 

Great  difficulty  was  encountered  in  assembling  the  proper  kind  of  Indians 
for  the  exhibit,  partly  because  they  were  suspicious  of  the  objects  and  aims 
of  the  white  men  in  removing  them  from  their  reservations.  However,  once 
they  were  at  the  Exposition  and  realized  that  they  were  being  and  would  be 
well  treated,  they  became  contented  and  happy  with  their  lot,  and  entered 
into  the  project  with  zest  and  enthusiasm,  so  that  not  only  did  the  exhibit 
become  a  popular  one,  but  it  became  the  strongest  and  most  attractive  amuse- 
ment feature  on  the  grounds. 


Conventions  and  Congresses  239 

The  National  Council  of  Women  held  a  five-days'  session,  Mrs.  May 
Wright  Sewall,  of  Indianapolis,  presiding.  Miss  Mary  Fairbrother  was 
local  chairman. 

The  Trans-Mississippi  Congress  of  Woman's  Clubs  was  largely  attended. 
Mrs.  Belle  M.  Stoutenborongh,  of  Plattsmouth,  presided,  the  local  chairman 
being  Mrs.  Philip  Potter. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  held  one  session,  Mrs.  S.  T.  \Valker,  of  Lincoln, 
presiding.  Mrs.  M.  G.  Andrews,  local  chairman. 

The  Mothers'  Congress  held  a  two-days'  session,  Mrs.  Theo.  Birney,  of 
Washington,  presiding.  Mrs.  H.  H.  Heller,  local  chairman. 

The  Jewish  Council  of  Women  was  presided  over  by  Mrs.  A.  Polack. 
Among  other  noteworthy  events  were :  Trans-Mississippi  Teachers'  Con- 
vention, the  Library  Congress  and  the  Congress  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 
In  all  there  were  103  sessions,  for  which  the  ladies  of  the  Omaha  Woman's 
Club  provided  the  meeting  places. 

The  Exposition  management  gave  all  the  credit  for  originating  and 
erecting  the  Boys'  and  Girls'  building  to  the  women  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion. School  children  throughout  the  West  were  induced  to  contribute  to 
the  building  fund,  subscriptions  being  acknowledged  by  means  of  certificates 
of  artistic  design — the  handiwork  of  Miss  Lydia  McCague. 

In  all,  1,737  certificates  were  issued.  The  beautiful  building,  erected 
near  the  east  end  of  the  lagoon,  was  completed  June  15,  and  dedicated  with 
appropriate  ceremonies  July  4.  The  creche,  conducted  by  Mrs.  A.  Moore 
and  five  assistants,  cared  for  over  2,000  small  children  while  parents 
viewed  the  Exposition.  For  the  benefit  of  the  creche,  the  international  doll 
collection  was  sent  from  Boston  and  exhibited  by  Miss  Arabella  Kimball. 
There  were  children's  entertainments,  lectures  on  cooking,  etc.  Mrs.  George 
Tilden  had  nominal  charge  of  the  restaurant  on  the  gallery  floor.  The  Girls' 
and  Boys'  building,  with  its  accessories,  was  a  successful  feature  of  the 
Exposition. 

The  educational  exhibits  were  not  numerous.  Frances  M.  Ford,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Bureau,  in  her  report,  describes  briefly  exhibits  from  Columbia 
University,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  University  of  California 
and  from  several  business  colleges.  There  was  a  collection  from  the  Chicago 
Art  Institute,  and  exhibits  of  ceramics  and  art  needlework.  Large  collective 
exhibits  were  made  by  State  institutions  and  paid  for  out  of  State  appropriar- 
tions.  About  200  awards  were  made. 


240  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

BUREAU  OF   EDUCATION 

Conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  Woman's  Board  of  Managers. 

President  Mrs.  A.  J.  Sawyer,  Lincoln 

Vice-President  Mrs.  Thos.  L.  Kimball,  Omaha 

Second  Vice-President  Mrs.  William  Dutton,  Hastings 

Third  Vice-President   Mrs.  Frank  Johnson,  Crete 

Secretary  Mrs.  Frances  M.  Ford,  Omaha 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 
Mrs.  W.  P.  Harford,  Chairman,  Omaha. 

Mrs.  A.  J.  Sawyer,  Lincoln  Miss  Kate  McHugh,  Omaha 

Mrs.  Thos.  L.  Kimball,  Omaha  Mrs.  J.  R.  Reed,  Council  Bluffs 

Mrs.  W.  W.  Keysor,  Omaha  Mrs.  D.  C.  Giffert,  West  Point 

BOARD  OF  MANAGERS. 

Congressional  District. 

First — Mrs.  A.  J.  Sawyer,  Lincoln;  Mrs.  A.  W.  Field,  Lincoln. 

Second — Mrs.  Angelina  Whitney,  Elk  City;  Miss  Helen  Chase,  Papillion. 

Third— Mrs.  D.  C.  Giffert,  West  Point;  Mrs.  Nettie  Hollenbeck,  Fremont. 

Fourth — Mrs.  J.  B.  McDowell,  Fairbury ;  Mrs.  Frank  Johnson,  Crete. 

Fifth — Mrs.  William  Dutton,  Hastings ;  Miss  L.  W.  Fyffe,  Hastings. 

Sixth — Mrs.  M.  A.  Hunter,  Broken  Bow;  Mrs.  J.  H.  Kerr,  Ansley. 

Omaha — Miss  Anna  Foos,  Miss  Kate  McHugh,  Miss  Alice  Hitte,  Mrs.  O.  S.  Chittenden, 

Mrs.  S.  R.  Towne,  Mrs.  W.  W.  Keysor,  Mrs.  W.  P.  Harford,  Mrs.  E.  A. 

Cudahy,  Mrs.  Stella  R.  Feil,  Mrs.  T.  L.  Kimball,  Mrs.  Euclid  Martin. 
South  Omaha — Mrs.  E.  B.  Towle,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Munro. 
Council  Bluffs— Mrs.  J.  R.  Reed,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Key. 


t — II — ]HE  active  management  and  control  of  the  Exposition 
was  first  placed  into  the  hands  of  seven  departmental 
managers  comprising  the  Executive  Committee,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  held  December  16,   1896. 
The  President  advised   with   the  Executive  Committee,   par- 
ticipating in  all  sessions.     Each  manager  was  empowered  to 
establish  such  bureaus  as  might  be  found  necessary  in  carrying 
out  the  purposes  of  the  department. 

As  first  organized  the  department  of  promotion  was  placed 
in  charge  of  G.  M.  Hitchcock,  whose  resignation  later  led  to 
a  consolidation  of  his  department  with  that  of  publicity. 

The  official  roster,  as  published  by  the  Exposition,  was  as  follows : 

OFFICERS. 

Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  President.        Alvin  Saunders,  Resident  Vice-President. 

John  A.  Wakefield,  Secretary.          Herman  Kountze,  Treasurer. 

Carroll  S.  Montgomery,  General  Counsel. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Zachary  T.    Lindsey,   Chairman  and   Manager   Department   Ways   and 
Means. 

Edward  Rosewater,  Manager  Department  Publicity  and  Promotion. 

Freeman  P.  Kirkendall,  Manager  Department  Buildings  and  Grounds 

Edward  E.  Bruce,  Manager  Department  Exhibits. 

Abraham  L.  Reed,  Manager  Department  Concessions  and  Privileges. 

William  N.  Babcock,  Manager  Department  Transportation. 

T.  S.  Clarkson,  General  Manager. 

\Valker  &  Kimball,  Architects-in-Chief. 


244  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

At  the  close  of  the  Exposition,  managers  of  departments  made  official 
reports  of  the  conduct  of  its  affairs,  which  were  placed  with  the  archives  of 
the  great  project  in  the  vault  of  the  Omaha  Public  Library.  Following  is  a 
synopsis  of  such  departmental  reports : 

EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENT 

Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  President;  Thaddeus  S.  Clarkson,  General  Man- 
ager; Alvin  Saunders,  Vice-President;  John  A.  Wakefield,  Secretary. 

In  addition  to  the  exercise  of  a  supervisory  control  of  the  affairs  in  gen- 
eral of  the  Exposition  company,  the  President  was  called  upon  to  devote 
considerable  time  to  the  service  of  receiving  and  entertaining  prominent 
visitors.  In  working  out  the  manifold  details  of  such  entertainment  and  in 
making  up  the  programs  for  special  days,  the  President  was  assisted  by 
the  General  Manager. 

A  Bureau  of  Entertainment,  composed  of  fifty  ladies  of  the  city,  was 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  providing  entertainment  for  notable  guests.  The 
work  of  this  bureau  was  more  particularly  looked  after  by  the  following 
officers  and  executive  committee:  President,  Mrs.  Clement  Chase;  Vice- 
President,  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Clarke;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  Freeman  P.  Kirkendall: 
Secretary,  Mrs.  William  A.  Redick.  The  Bureau's  Executive  Committee  was 
composed  of  the  following  ladies : 

Mrs.  Clement  Chase,  Chairman;  Mrs.  Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  Mrs.  Free- 
man P.  Kirkendall,  Mrs.  Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock,  Mrs.  Charles  W.  Lyman, 
Mrs.  Wm.  A.  Redick,  Mrs.  John  L.  Webster,  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Clarke.  Mrs. 
John  E.  Summers,  Mrs.  George  A.  Joslyn. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  WAYS  AND  MEANS 

Zachary  T.  Lindsey  was  elected  manager  of  this  department,  and  he 
installed  as  adjuncts  the  Bureau  of  Subscriptions,  the  Bureau  of  Admissions, 
the  Bureau  of  Souvenir  Coins,  the  Bureau  of  Music  and  the  Bureau  of  Special 
Attractions. 

Bureau  of  Subscriptions. — This  bureau  had  an  existence  under  the  old 
organization,  reference  to  which  is  made  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  organiza- 
tion and  reorganization.  It  had  secured  subscriptions  amounting  to  $404.720 
at  the  time  it  was  attached  to  the  Department  of  Ways  and  Means,  and 
immediately  upon  his  appointment  Manager  Lindsey  applied  himself  to  the 
task  of  securing  additional  subscriptions,  and  to  collecting  assessments  on 
subscriptions.  This  work  he  prosecuted  with  energy  and  success,  increasing 
the  subscriptions  by  $221.242.70,  so  that  the  aggregate  sum  subscribed  to 


Synopsis  of  Reports  of  Departmental  Managers 


245 


the  Exposition  amounted  to  $625,962.70.     Of  this  latter  amount  88  per  cent 
was  collected,  or  $550,847.17. 

Bureau  of  Admissions. — This  Bureau  dealt  with  the  matter  of  issuance 
of  tickets,  providing  for  checks  upon  ticket  sellers  and  ticket  takers,  promul- 
gating necessary  rules  and  regulations  with  reference  to  the  use  of  tickets 
and  passes,  all  of  which  involved  a  large  amount  of  work  on  account  of  the 
great  numbers  dealt  with  and  the  various  conditions  to  be  considered  in  con- 
nection with  admissions  to  the  Exposition  grounds.  The  total  number  of 
admissions  to  the  grounds  during  the  period  of  the  Exposition  is  shown  by 
months  in  the  following  table : 

June    289,351 

July    331,684 

August    474J77 

September    593,i68 

October     925,128 

Total    2,613,508 

Paid    1.778,250  or  68% 

Free   835,258  or  32% 

Total   admission   receipts  were $801,515.47 

Average  cash  receipts  for  each  admission  at  gates .37 

Average  cash  receipts  for  paid  admission  at  gates .42 

Smallest  day's  total  attendance,  June  3 4,756 

Smallest  day's  paid  attendance,  June  6 L752 

Largest  day's  total  attendance — President's  Day,  October  12 98,845 

Largest  day's  gate  receipts — President's  Day,  October  12 42,822.00 

Week  of  largest  gate  receipts,  October  9  to  15 116,320.10 

SPECIAL  DAYS'  ATTENDANCE. 

Total  Total 

Date.  Free.  For  Day. 

Opening  Day   June     i     2.886  27,998 

Nurserymen's  Day  June    8    3,764  6,559 

Maccabees'   Day    June  1 1     3,956  7,789 

Nebraska  Dedication  Day June  14   4-744  16,470 

Postal  Clerks'   Day June  15   4,266  12,160 

Ohio  Press  Day   June  16  4,098  8,523 

Wisconsin  Day   June  18  5,003  1 1,338 

Illinois  Day    June  21    5,334  14-733 

Kansas  Dedication  Day   June  22   6,805  14,216 

Iowa  Dedication  and  Iowa  Press  Day June  23  4,894  13,400 

Swedish-American  Day   June  24   4,563  11,217 

Royal  Arcanum  Day    June  25   4,913  9,657 

Electrical   Engineers'   Day    June  27   4,616  8,194 

Trans-Mississippi  Educational  Day   June  28  4,575  9,038 

Montana  Dedication  Day June  29  4,93i  9.700 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Date. 


Total 
Free. 


Turnfest    Day ~\ 

Musical  Congress  Day ^ 

Texas  Melon  and  Grape  Day July      i 


June  30 5,114 


5,1" 
4,441 
3-4i8 
5.834 


2.  

3  

4  

7  4.904 

10  3,263 

11  4,754 


Christian   Endeavor  Day   July 

National  Congregational  Church  Day July 

Independence  Day   : July 

Louisiana  Press  Day July 

Rev.  Lloyd  Jones  at  Auditorium  July 

Massachusetts  Day July 

State  Republican  League  Day July   12    4-74- 

Xational   Republican   League   Day July  13    4,802 

Ida  County  and  Children's  Day July  14    5458 

San   Antonio   Day    July  15    5.244 

Military   (3d  Nebraska  Regiment)   Day July  16    8,239 

Forecasters'   Day    July  19    4,610 

Minnesota  Dedication  Day   July  20    S.ooi 

Fishermen's  Day July  22    4-596 

Building  and  Loan  Association  Day July  26    4-347 

Flower  Day    August     2    4,968 

Indian  Day  August     4    5.339 

Second  Flower  Day  August     5    5,361 

Kansas  City  Day   August     6    5,105 

Knights  of   Pythias  Day August     9    4-939 

Red  Men's  Day  August  10     5,233 

First  Life  Saving  Service  Exhibition August  1 1     5.225 


Total 
For  Day. 

9,118 

9,847 
8,708 
7.888 

44-452 
8,656 

10,486 

8,122 
9,048 
IO,27O 


First  Organ  Recital   August  12 

St.  Joseph  (Mo.)  Day August  13 


5.348 
6,003 

5485 


Wheelmen's   Day    August  15    

Florists'  Day   August  16    5.243 

Texas  Day    August  18    5,660 


Colored  People's  Day August  19 

Black  Hills  Day  August  22 

Des  Moines   (Iowa)    Day .August  23 

World  Herald  Day   August  24 

Sioux  City  Day  August  25 

Bohemian  Day August  27 

Bankers'  Day  August  29 

"Buffalo   Bill's"  Day    August  31 

Kansas  D:iy    September 

Pcnch  Day— Mask  Carnival    September 

Editors'  Day    )  c 

\  September 
Burlington  Day   ) 

Firemen's   Day    September 

Montana  Day  September 

Military   (2d  Nebraska)   Day   September 

Druggists'  Day   September 

Woodmen  of  the  World  September 

Norfolk  Day September  10 

South  Dakota  and  Sons  of  Veterans September  12 

Wisconsin  Dnv September   13 


5.238 
5.236 
5.695 
6.116 
6,023 
5.971 
5.729 
5-951 
5-779 
6,890 

5.987 

5.477 
6,067 

7.224 
6.355 
5.8 1 6 

5,147 
4.566 


9-312 
2O,226 

8,584 
10.843 

8,440 

8,597 
16,462 
19.648 
21,441 
10,694 
12,608 
15-399 
•17,750 
13.770 
14.953 
13.378 
15.269 
21.225 
14-030 
12,258 
16,220 
23.663 
24,316 
18,967 
16,972 
22.540 
26.210 
-J3.3->4 

14,793 

18,318 
18.003 
22.303 
21.750 
i".54i 
10,568 

7-994 


Synopsis  of  Reports  of  Departmental  Managers 


247 


Shriners'  Day 

Monetary  Congress   Day    

Oklahoma   Day    | 

Washington  Editors'  Day   j 

Railroad  and  Children's  D:iy   

Wyoming  Day  

Government   Day    . . . 

Iowa  Day   

Modern  Woodmen  

22d  (U.  S.  A.)  Infantry  Day 

Commercial  Travelers'  Day    

Millers'  and  Manufacturers'  Day   

Swedish  Day 

Knights  of  Maccabees  J 

Georgia  and  Children's  Day 
Chicago  Day 
Live   Stock  I 
Michigan  Day 
Pennsylvar 
Ohio  Day- 
New  York 
Mayor's  D; 

Governor's   Day    

President's   Day    

Army  and  Navy  Day. 
Civil  Government  Day 
Children's  Jubilee  Day- 
Wind,  rain  and  snow  . 
Odd  Fellows'  Day  .... 

German    Day    

A.   O.  U.    W.   Day    ... 

Nebraska   Day   

Utah  Day    

Apple   Day    

Children   Free    

German   Day    . 

Railroad  Day  

Railroad  Day   


Date. 

September  14 
September  15 

September  16 

September  17 
September  19 
September  20 
September  21 
September  22 
September  23 
September  24 
September  27 


Total 
Free. 
6.308 
6,60 1 


Total 
For  Day. 
19,902 
22,800 


6,169         16,005 


6.280 
6,177 
5.946 
6,762 
7.328 
6,460 
6.441 
6,108 


av    . 

October 

I 

Dav   

October 

-i 

Dav    

October 

A 

ia   Dav    

October 

October 

6 

Day  . 

October 

8 

iv,  Missouri  Dav   . 

.  .October 

10  . 

[  September  28    6,155 

6,668 
6,923 
6,290 
6,021 
7.576 
7,145 
7,686 

7,525 

October   1 1  7,670 

October  12  10,953 

October  13  7.893 

October  14  8,609 

October  15  8,253 

October  16  5.049 

October  17  4,935 


Tri-City  Day 

Railroad  Week 
Railroad  Week 
Railroad  Week 
Omaha  Day  .  .  . 


Davenport 
Rock  Island 
Moline 


19.477 
14,871 
18,680 
39,000 
52.725 
28,238 
22,365 
16,396 

19.474 

19.540 
21,251 
15,266 
19,998 
29,589 
27,473 
26,067 
29.378 
48,051 
08,845 
49-710 
32,400 
35.060 
13,354 
14,910 


October  18   6,397          22,983 


October  19   7,210  24,957 

October  20   7.189  21,682 

October  21    6,763  17,698 

October  22   21,139  33,383 

October  23   6,380  23,984 

October  24  6,102  17,985 

October  25   5-993  22,991 

October  26  6,563  35,975 

.October  27  6.538  36,167 

.  October  28   6,472  27,825 

.  October  29  6,845  26,657 

.October  31    6,625  61,236 


Total  attendance,  including  every  day 835,258     2,613,508 


248  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

RECEIPTS  AND  DISBURSEMENTS. 

Following  is  a  statement  showing  ledger  balances  at  closing,  debit  and 
credit.  Also  statements  showing  total  receipts  of  the  Exposition  from  all 
sources,  the  disbursement  of  said  receipts,  both  by  departments  and  by 
requisition,  and  a  summary  of  Treasurer's  statement,  showing  all  funds 
disbursed : 

STATEMENT  OF  BALANCES  FROM  GENERAL  LEDGER. 

October  i,  1902. 

DEBITS. 

Distribution  of  assets  (90  per  cent) $    292,482.00 

Subscriptions  unpaid   77,547  •  So 

Bills  Receivable,  scrip  of  State  of  Washington 851 .85 

Expense  prior  to  December  i,  1896 3,898.36 

General   Expense    56,694. 18 

Ways  and   Means  Department 138,691 . 62 

Publicity  and  Promotion  Department 97,784.92 

Exhibits  Department  100,126.40 

Concessions  and  Privileges  Department 52.745 . 25 

Transportation   Department    6,575.94 

Buildings  and  Grounds  Department   1,104,265.74 

Interest  and  Discount 3,634.26 

War  Balloons  (balance  of  freight  charges  advanced) 2,537.94 

Indian  Congress  (cash  advanced)    4,597.62 

$I'942'433'58 

Capital  Stock   (stock  subscriptions) $  411,745.00 

Donations    (donation    subscriptions) 141,670.20 

Exhibits    (receipts)    200,110.48 

Concessions  and  Privileges   286,146.68 

Buildings  and  Grounds   (receipts) 38,128.22 

Admissions    (receipts) 801,515.47 

Music    (receipts)     3,520.85 

Publicity  and  Promotion   (receipts) 525.33 

Water  (receipts)    2,879.22 

Souvenir  Coin  Medals   (receipts)    5,963.00 

Power  and  Light  (receipts)    28,550.96 

Indian  Congress   (receipts)    159.05 

Salvage  (sales  of  buildings  and  appurtenances) 21,519. 12 

$1,942,433.58 
STATEMENT  OF  TOTAL  RECEIPTS. 

Total  receipts  reported  to  June  26,  1899 $1,972,194.49 

Received  from  Bond  Guarantee  Account,  Collected  in $3,800.00 

Received  from  Frank  Murphy,  trustee 1,265.00 

Received  on  account  Exhibits  Department 79-2O 


Total  receipts  since  June  26,  1899 5,144.20 


Total  receipts  to  the  conclusion $1,977-338.69 


Synopsis  of  Reports  of  Departmental  Managers  249 

DISBURSEMENTS  BY  DEPARTMENTS. 

Distribution  of  assets,  90  per  cent $   293,884.50 

Ways  and  Means  Department   138,949. 57 

Publicity  and  Promotion  Department  97,784.92 

Exhibits  Department    100,161 .40 

Concessions  and  Privileges  Department   52,846.96 

Buildings  and  Grounds  Department   1,103,542.01 

Transportation    Department    6,575 . 94 

Interest  and  discount  3,634.26 

General    expenses    56,610.06 

Girls'  and  Boys'  building  9,438-35 

Refunds     4,671 .04 

Indian  exhibit    (cash  advanced)    4,597.62 

Union  Stock  Yards  (special  premiums) 875.00 

War  balloons    (freight  charges  paid)    3,126.46 

Bond  Guarantee  account   36,800.00 

$1,913.408.09 
DISBURSEMENTS  BY  REQUISITION. 

Capital  stock  (90  per  cent)    $    293,884. 50 

Salaries  and  wages  356,831 . 75 

Freight  and  express   19,634. 19 

Advertising 16,303 . 16 

Printing  and   stationery    37,623.88 

Photographing     41844 . 60 

Commissions  paid   11,816.80 

Souvenir  medals    3.027.63 

Furniture   and   miscellaneous    4,031 .83 

Telegraph  and  telephone 4,213.60 

Interest  and  discount  3.637-56 

Amusements    65,444.27 

Insurance    16,104.43 

Traveling,  messenger  and  livery  30,134.66 

Pictures   and  -painting    22,957.03 

Postage  and  revenue  stamps   11.593.68 

Taxes  and  license   17,273.69 

Steam  and  electricity   76.842 . 34 

Miscellaneous    125,357  •  49 

Utensils     10,599.82 

Grounds    in.994-55 

Buildings    598,450.46 

Sewers     3.690.54 

Water    40,220. 14 

Awards    26.985.49 

$1,913,408.09 

Expenses  prior  to  December  i,  1806 3.898.36 

General  fund  warrants  redeemed  35.488. 17 

Bills  payable  redeemed  23,602 . 22 

Bills  receivable  on  hand  851 .85 

$1,977.338.69 

Total  disbursements  since  June  26,   1899 6,975  •  7i 


250  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

TREASURER'S  STATEMENT. 
Mr.  Herman  Kountze,  Treasurer. 
From  the  detailed  report  of  the  treasurer,  the  following  summary  is  taken : 

June  26,   1899,  balance  on   hand $1,831 .51 

Deposits  since  June  26,  1899 5,144.20 

$6,975-71 

Vouchers  paid  since  June  26,  1899   6,975 . 71 

Balance  on  hand,  October  I,  1902,  none. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  held  May  23,  1898,  it  was 
decided  to  make  an  issue  of  negotiable  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $200,000,  secured 
by  a  mortgage  on  50  per  cent  of  the  gate  receipts,  and  upon  all  the  buildings 
and  other  property  of  the  Exposition.  The  bonds  and  the  mortgage  to  pro- 
tect them  were  prepared,  providing  that  Joseph  H.  Millard,  president  of  the 
Omaha  National  Bank ;  Charles  W.  Lyman,  then  president  of  the  Commercial 
National  Bank,  and  (the  late)  Frank  Murphy,  president  of  Merchants' 
National  Bank,  should  be  a  board  of  trustees  for  the  bonds.  For  various 
reasons  the  bonds  were  never  issued,  and  were  finally  destroyed. 

Bureau  of  Coins. — In  giving  official  recognition  to  the  Exposition,  the 
Government  provided  for  the  operation  of  a  United  States  coin  press  in  its 
building  on  the  Exposition  grounds,  and  this  bureau  had  under  its  supervision 
the  matter  of  preparing  an  Exposition  souvenir  coin.  The  dies  for  these 
coins  were  made  at  the  United  States  mint  in  Philadelphia,  at  a  cost  of  $400. 
The  reverse  side  of  the  medal  was  modeled  after  a  design  submitted  by 
Thomas  R.  Kimball,  of  Omaha,  representing  an  Indian  spearing  a  buffalo. 
The  obverse  of  the  medal  received  the  impress  of  a  composite  picture  produced 
from  photographs  of  the  most  beautiful  women  in  the  Trans-Mississippi 
country.  About  twenty-five  thousand  of  these  coins  were  sold  at  a  net  profit 
of  nearly  three  thousand  dollars. 

Bureau  of  Music. — Thomas  J.  Kelley  was  the  director  of  this  Bureau, 
and  through  it  arrangements  were  made  for  the  following,  among  other 
bands,  to  fill  engagements  during  the  Exposition  period  ranging  from  four 
to  seven  weeks :  The  United  States  Marine  Band,  Phinney's  United  States 
Band,  the  Seventh  Cavalry  Band  of  Mexico,  F.  N.  Innes'  Band,  and  Theodore 
Thomas'  orchestra.  The  Apollo  Club,  of  Chicago,  200  voices,  also  filled 
an  engagement  of  two  days  during  the  month  of  July.  These  musical  organi- 
zations were  supplemented  and  supported  by  a  finely  disciplined  chorus  of 
150  voices,  maintained  during  the  whole  period  of  the  Exposition.  The 
music  of  the  Exposition  cost  $52,703.28;  the  receipts  from  concerts  given 
were  $3,520.85. 


Synopsis  of  Reports  of  Departmental  Managers  251 

Bureau  of  Special  Attractions. — The  principal  work  performed  by  this 
Bureau  was  in  securing  side  attractions  in  the  way  of  fireworks,  which  were 
secured  from  a  fireworks  company  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  In  addition  to  the 
foregoing,  other  attractions  were  secured,  but  at  a  comparatively  small 
expense.  The  total  expense  of  the  Bureau  was  $12,000. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   PUBLICITY  AND   PROMOTION 

Up  to  July  9,  1897,  the  department  of  promotion  was  managed  by  G.  M. 
Hitchcock,  whose  activities  are  recited  in  another  chapter.  Upon  the  resigna- 
tion of  Mr.  Hitchcock,  his  department  was  merged  with  that  of  publicity  and 
the  work  continued  under  the  management  of  Edward  Rosewater.  The  work 
of  promotion  was  participated  in  by  many  well-known  Nebraskans.  Due  to 
their  efforts  nearly  one  hundred  conventions,  congresses,  national,  interstate 
and  State  gatherings  of  fraternal  societies,  etc.,  were  induced  to  hold  their 
meetings  at  Omaha  during  1898.  At  the  suggestion  and  through  the  efforts  of 
the  manager  of  this  department,  the  United  States  PostofHce  Department  issued 
a  series  of  postage  stamps  commemorative  of  the  Exposition,  scenes,  actions 
and  accomplishments  incident  and  pertaining  to  the  Trans-Mississippi  region, 
which  stamps  are  described  in  a  chapter  of  this  work  relating  to  the 
Government  buildings  and  exhibits. 

The  publicity  work  of  the  department  was  both  thorough  and  far- 
reaching,  it  being  estimated  that  the  various  great  dailies,  weeklies,  magazines, 
etc.,  exclusive  of  Omaha  newspapers,  published  as  much  as  sixty-five  million 
words  concerning  the  Exposition.  In  addition  to  this,  the  department  sent 
out,  under  the  superintendency  of  James  B.  Haynes,  nearly  a  million  and  a 
half  issues  of  32-page  pamphlets,  news  letters,  cuts  of  buildings,  photographs, 
bird's-eye  views,  framed  pictures,  posters,  etc. 

To  the  energetic  work  of  the  promoters  is  partly  due  the  fact  that 
thirty-five  States  and  territories  appointed  commissions  to  provide  and  look 
after  State  and  territorial  representation  at  the  Exposition.  In  this  connec- 
tion 'it  should  also  be  said  that  State  appropriations  \vere  made  amounting  to 
$438,000,  and  funds  were  raised  privately  to  secure  representation  by  other 
States  and  territories  to  the  amount  of  $170,000,  or  a  grand  total  of  $608,000. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   BUILDINGS   AND   GROUNDS 

The  plan  of  the  Executive  Committee  contemplated  exhibit  buildings  of 
the  highest  type  of  architecture,  with  a  view  to  producing  artistic  effects  as 
well  as  affording  adequate  space  for  the  principal  exhibits;  the  grounds  were 
to  be  beautified  by  the  generous  planting  of  flowering  bushes  and  plants,  and 
ample  shade  provided  by  a  plenteous  supply  of  large  trees :  the  grounds  to  be 


252  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

brilliantly  lighted  by  electricity.  With  a  view  to  carrying  out  this  general 
plan,  the  manager  of  the  department.  Freeman  P.  Kirkendall,  was  empowered 
to  arrange  for  the  services  of  Messrs.  Walker  and  Kimball,  of  Boston  and 
Omaha,  respectively,  as  architects-in-chief ;  Mr.  Rudolph  Ulrich.  of  New 
York,  N.  Y.,  as  landscape  architect,  and  Mr.  Luther  Steiringer.  of  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  as  consulting  electrical  engineer.  A  superintendent  of  construction, 
Dion  Geraldine,  was  employed  to  supervise  the  building  operations,  and  upon 
his  resignation  in  October,  1897,  Mr.  A.  C.  Foster,  of  Omaha,  was  called  to 
the  position. 

The  matter  of  fixing  upon  a  suitable  site  was  a  difficult  and  important 
one,  and  even  after  one  location  had  been  chosen  by  the  Board  of  Directors, 
through  the  efforts  of  Manager  Kirkendall,  a  reconsideration  of  the  matter  was 
had  and  the  merits  of  another  proposed  site  were  considered,  following  which 
the  board  rescinded  its  action,  and  upon  March  17,  1897,  adopted  a  site  which 
was  made  historic  by  the  completed  Exposition. 

The  first  important  w;ork  commenced  under  the  direction  of  this  depart- 
ment was  that  of  the  construction  of  the  lagoon,  which  began  April  28,  1897, 
and  the  first  contract  awarded  for  the  construction  of  a  building  was  on  July 
i,  1897,  for  the  Administration  Arch,  work  thereon  being  under  way  eight 
days  later,  or  just  ten  and  one-half  months  in  advance  of  the  time  set  for 
the  opening  of  the  Exposition. 

It  was  this  department  that  assumed  the  responsibilities  incident  to  the 
construction  of  the  numerous  buildings  erected  upon  the  Exposition  grounds, 
the  manager  thereof  having  general  supervision  of  the  entire  work,  which 
entailed  an  expenditure  of  nearly  $600,000,  as  will  appear  from  the  list  of 
the  buildings  erected,  the  cost  shown  being  exclusive  of  architects'  fees,  office 
expenses  and  salaries,  superintendence,  etc. 

Administration  building   $  11,621.24 

Mines  and  Mining  building   42.250.55 

Manufactures  building   : 56.256. 13 

Auditorium  building    12,358.29 

Agricultural   building    60.987 . 51 

Machinery  and  Electricity  building 30.019.90 

Liberal  Arts  building   31.183.26 

Fine   Arts  building    46.163.05 

Power  Plant  building   10,063.05 

Horticulture  building    35-I3°-33 

North  viaduct,  Sherman  avenue   4,679.95 

East  Colonnades 11,842.29 

Mirror  Colonnades  __  I5.979-9O 

Administration    Colonnades    2,094.00 

Sanitary  kiosks  2.968.65 

Warehouse   building    3.022 . 03 

South  viaduct  restaurants  24,832.00 


Synopsis  of  Reports  of  Departmental  Managers  253 

South  viaduct  (Sherman  avenue)   6,531 .31 

Band  Stand   3,86i  .66 

North  and  South  Colonnades  5,652.00 

Hospital  building   1,821 .00 

Press  building  3,548.46 

Dairy  building 7,858.04 

Service  building    7,022 . 65 

Apiary  building    6,341 .48 

International  building   7,846 . 61 

Fire  and  Police  building   6,248. 58 

Transportation  building   40,804 . 38 

Arch  of  States 7,353 .00 

Ticket  booths,  exits  and  gates  6,671 . 74 

Refreshment  kiosks   3,292 .  oo 

Girls'  and  Boys'  building  9,154.42 

Live  Stock  buildings 19,157.13 


$564,616.59 

The  department  also  spent  large  sums  of  money  for  grading,  macadam- 
izing and  laying  brick  walks  throughout  the  grounds.  The  cost  of  construc- 
tion work  on  the  lagoon  was  $25,507.  As  soon  as  practicable  after  the  site 
had  been  selected  the  landscape  architect  submitted  plans  for  transforming 
the  rough  topography  of  a  cornfield  into  a  series  of  beautiful  gardens,  flanked 
by  greensward  and  supplied  with  an  infinite  variety  of  foliage  plants,  shade 
trees  and  flowering  plants  in  great  profusion.  Within  the  confines  of  the 
several  tracts  over  14,000  trees,  bushes  and  shrubs  were  planted.  Upward 
of  twenty-one  acres  of  bare  ground  were  covered  with  turf,  while  more  than 
100,000  plants  and  flowers  contributed  a  wealth  of  beauty  to  the  floral  display 
in  the  grounds.  The  cost  of  the  landscape  department  was  $127,707.91. 

Electrical  Illuminations. — At  previous  expositions  arc  lights  had  been 
used  for  the  purpose  of  illuminating  large  areas  like  the  Grand  Court,  but  at 
the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  it  was  decided  to  use  incandescent  lights 
instead,  and  the  soundness  of  Superintendent  H.  B.  Rustin's  prediction  that 
the  effect  would  be  satisfactory  was  fully  borne  out  by  the  splendid  results 
following  their  installation. 

Cost  of  machinery  and  electricity  was  $119,273.81 

Revenue  from  power  and  light  furnished 28,550.96 


Net  cost  to  the  Exposition $  90,722 . 85 

Guards. — The  Exposition  Guards  were  under  the  direction  of  Com- 
mandant C.  E.  Llewellyn,  who  at  one  period  of  the  Exposition  had  304  names 
on  the  pay-roll.  However,  the  average  number  of  guards  on  duty  was  160. 
A  lost-and-found  bureau  was  established  at  guard  headquarters,  which  was 
instrumental  in  restoring  much  lost  property  to  owners. 


254  Tratts-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Medical  Bureau. — This  Bureau  was  in  charge  of  E.  W.  Lee,  M.I).,  as 
Director.  The  total  number  of  cases  treated  during  the  Exposition  period 
was  3,095.  Total  expenses  of  maintaining  the  hospital.  $4,075.13.  Average 
number  of  patients  per  day,  20.25.  Average  cost  per  patient,  $1.31. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   EXHIBITS 

Under  the  management  of  Edward  E.  Bruce  and  H.  B.  Hardt,  assistant, 
the  plan  of  operation  for  the  department  of  exhibits  involved  the  formation 
of  ten  bureaus,  referred  to  hereafter.  Receipts  from  the  sale  of  exhibit  space 
in  the  buildings  and  grounds  amounted  to  $200,110.48,  while  the  expenses 
and  costs  were  50  per  cent  of  that  sum.  The  total  space  available  in  buildings 
devoted  to  exposition  purposes  aggregated  about  50,000  square  feet,  and  was 
occupied  by  5,119  separate  exhibitors. 

Bureau  of  Education. — This  exhibit,  the  Girls'  and  Boys'  building,  and 
the  Congress  of  Women,  were  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  lady  managers, 
Mrs.  W.  P.  Harford  being  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  which 
operated  under  rules  and  regulations  prepared  by  the  Department  of  Exhibits, 
approved  by  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Exposition.  The  exhibit  made 
by  Nebraska  ranged  from  the  kindergarten  class  to  the  university,  and  every 
institution  for  dependent  or  defective  classes  was  represented.  The  educa- 
tional institutions  of  a  number  of  the  States  had  exhibits,  and  a  good  showing 
was  made  of  what  was  being  done  along  educational  lines.  Much  labor  was 
entailed  in  collecting  these  exhibits. 

The  Girls'  and  Boys'  building,  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  ten  thousand 
dollars,  largely  by  small  subscriptions  collected  from  school  children  and 
others,  attracted  considerable  attention  on  the  grounds.  A  creche  was  main- 
tained within  the  structure,  in  which  upward  of  two  thousand  children  were 
cared  for  while  their  parents  viewed  the  Exposition.  The  operation  of  this 
building  was  so  successful  that  the  revenues  exceeded  the  expenses  by  $937.82. 

Bureau  of  Fine  Arts. — This  exhibit  was  in  charge  of  Armand  H.  Griffith 
as  Superintendent.  It  contained  many  valuable  paintings,  and  besides  the 
seven  hundred  or  more  pictures  which  adorned  the  walls  several  hundreds 
of  drawings  were  displayed,  many  of  which  possessed  great  merit  and 
attracted  considerable  attention,  as  did  the  statuary.  This  fine  exhibit  is 
described  in  another  chapter. 

Bureau  of  Agriculture,  Horticulture,  I'orestrv  and  Irrigation. — These 
exhibits  were  both  numerous  and  interesting.  The  decorative  scheme  was 
well  executed,  and  the  exhibit  as  a  whole  was  highly  instructive,  and  greatly 
appreciated  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  who  viewed  it.  Mr. 
F.  \V.  Taylor  was  in  charge  as  Superintendent. 


Svnopsis  of  Reports  of  Departmental  Managers  255 

Bureau  of  Mines  and  Mining. — David  T.  Day,  Superintendent.  The  aim 
and  object  of  this  exhibit  was  to  illustrate  the  mineral  wealth  within  the 
entire  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  by  exhibits  from  States 
farther  east  to  show  the  principal  achievements  in  mining  and  metallurgy 
attained  since  the  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago.  Many  of  the  exhibits 
were  in  line  with  this  plan,  being  both  instructive  and  comprehensive. 

The  Bureau  of  Live  Stock,  Dairy  Products  and  Poultry. — This  Bureau 
was  in  charge  of  John  B.  Dinsmore,  Superintendent,  and  three  assistants : 

Li-i'c  Stock. — C.  H.  Elmendorf,  assistant  superintendent.  In  the  pro- 
curing of  this  exhibit  considerable  work  and  expense  were  involved.  The 
exhibit  was  quite  satisfactory  and  premiums  aggregating  $35,000  were 
distributed  to  successful  exhibitors  in  the  live  stock  and  poultry  departments. 

Dairy  Products. — S.  C.  Bassett,  Assistant  Superintendent.  There  were 
two  hundred  and  five  exhibitors  of  dairy  products,  the  display  being  of 
much  interest.  The  exhibit  of  cheese  was  not  as  extensive  as  could  have 
been  washed  and  the  quality  was  somewhat  lacking  for  an  occasion  of  the 
kind. 

Poultry. — J.  Llewellyn,  Assistant  Superintendent.  The  poultry  exhibit 
was  not  an  extensive  one,  although  the  birds  exhibited  possessed  great  merit, 
and  to  that  extent  the  display  \vas  satisfactory.  The  failure  to  secure  a  larger 
display  of  poultry  wras  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  superintendent  of  that 
branch  of  the  exhibits  was  appointed  too  late  to  enable  him  to  make  the 
exhibit  a  complete  success. 

Bureau  of  Bee  Industries. — The  bee-keepers'  exhibit  was  an  interesting 
one  and  was  shown  in  a  building  erected  for  that  purpose  at  a  cost  of  nearly 
$6,500.  This  exhibit  was  in  charge  of  Superintendent  E.  Whitcomb,  of 
Friend,  Nebr. 

Bureau  of  Liberal  Arts. — This  exhibit  w-as  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Frances  M. 
Ford  as  Superintendent.  The  building  contained  a  collection  of  articles 
and  appliances  indicative  of  the  advance  of  civilization,  for  here  was  to  be 
found  the  modern  typewriter  and  calculating  machines — instruments  fully 
demonstrated  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  and  utility  in  the  present-day 
commercial  world;  photographs,  pianos,  incubators  and  the  like  were  also 
displayed  in  a  pleasing  manner,  so  that  the  capacity  of  the  building,  46,128 
square  feet  of  floor  space,  was  crowded  to  the  limit. 

Bureau  of  Machinery  and  Electricity. — The  machinery  exhibit  was  a 
very  satisfactory  one  and  of  a  character  calculated  to  secure  the  attention  of 
the  Western  man,  for  whose  especial  benefit  it  was  installed;  but  it  was  quite 
evident  that  the  war  waged  between  this  country  and  Spain  had  quickened 


256  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

an  interest  of  the  entire  people  in  matters  martial,  for  the  exhibits  of  arms 
and  ammunition  were  scrutinized  very  carefully  by  them,  while  machinery, 
which  would  at  other  times  have  claimed  their  attention,  was  passed  by  almost 
unnoticed. 

The  progress  made  in  the  field  of  electricity  was  exhibited  in  a  com- 
prehensive and  instructive  manner,  and  every  foot  of  floor  space  within  the 
building  was  occupied  by  exhibits  either  of  machinery  or  electrical  appliances. 

The  superintendent  of  this  building,  Prof.  H.  B.  Owens,  having  resigned, 
the  supervision  of  same  fell  upon  H.  B.  Hardt  as  assistant  to  the  manager  of 
the  department. 

Bureau  of  Manufactures  and  International  Exhibits. — The  buildings 
embraced  in  this  Bureau  were  in  charge  of  H.  B.  Hardt  as  superintendent,  and 
all  the  space  available  for  exhibition  purposes  was  used  to  display  specimens 
of  interesting,  novel  and  useful  things  arranged  harmoniously.  The  exhibit 
booths  in  the  Manufactures  building  were  more  elaborate  and  costly  than 
those  found  in  any  of  the  other  buildings. 

International  Hall. — This  structure  was  built  for  and  devoted  to  the 
foreign  exhibits  and  to  the  concessionaires  in  foreign  goods  and  souvenirs. 
The  floor  space  amounted  to  18,583  square  feet.  Because  of  the  novelities 
displayed  in  the  way  of  foreign  exhibits,  this  building  received  more  than 
ordinary  attention  from  visitors. 

Bureau  of  Transportation  and  Agricultural  Implements. — Delay  in 
reaching  a  decision  as  to  the  size  and  character  of  the  building  to  be  con- 
structed for  this  exhibit  prevented  the  management  from  securing  some  very 
interesting  exhibits  illustrating  the  progress  and  development  of  transporta- 
tion facilities  in  the  United  States,  so  it  happened  that  all  the  space  was 
utilized  for  the  display  of  modern  and  practical  implements  and  conveyances. 
Within  this  structure  were  four  railroad  tracks,  which  aided  in  the  matter 
of  unloading  and  disposing  of  the  heavy  exhibits  within  the  building,  and 
later  they  were  filled  with  a  variety  of  locomotives,  railway  cars,  etc.,  as 
features  of  the  Exposition.  Fifty-nine  thousand  one  hundred  and  fiftyr-eight 
feet  of  floor  space  within  this  building  were  sold  to  and  occupied  by  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one  exhibitors.  D.  H.  Elliott  was  in  charge  as  superintendent. 

Bureau  of  Awards. — The  committee  on  awards  was  composed  of  J.  M. 
Woolworth,  chairman;  John  E.  Utt,  assistant  chairman,  and  E.  E.  Bruce, 
manager  of  the  Exhibits  Department. 

A  circular  was  sent  to  all  the  exhibitors  asking  each  to  name  some  man 
as  juror,  and  from  the  names  thus  secured  a  list  was  selected.  A  system  of 
checks  was  introduced  calculated  to  prevent  the  perpetration  of  fraud.  Out 


Synopsis  of  Reports  of  Departmental  Managers  257 

of  five  thousand  one   hundred  and   nineteen   separate  exhibits,   only   thirty 
appeals  were  made  from  the  findings  of  the  juries. 

Highest  Gold  Silver       Bronze    Honorable 

Award  Medal  Medal        Medal       Mention 

Manufactures     :  . .  .         17  501  296               155               120 

Mines  and  Mining   o  38              68 

Agriculture     i  51              32 

Horticulture     2  63              86 

Apiary    o  2              41 

Dairy     o  6              32 

Commemorative  medals  and  diplomas    464 

Total  medals  and  diplomas  awarded  2,580 

LAW   DEPARTMENT 

Carroll  S.  Montgomery,  General  Counsel  of  the  Exposition  Company, 
gave  oral  advice  to  the  Executive  Committee,  prepared  and  passed  upon 
contracts  and  agreements  during  the  preparatory  period  of  the  Exposition 
work  and  during  the  period  of  operation  written  counsel  or  opinions  were 
furnished  almost  daily.  Of  contracts,  406  were  made,  159  being  general  and 
247  concessions.  In  February  and  April,  1898,  the  Board  of  Directors 
ordered  the  prosecution  of  delinquents  for  their  subscriptions  remaining 
unpaid.  A  large  number  of  actions  were  commended,  but  later,  upon 
a  showing  that  the  affairs  of  the  company  would  be  in  shape  to  enable  it  to 
pay  back  at  least  a  portion  of  the  subscriptions  made,  such  suits  were  aban- 
doned. In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  34  cases  were  prosecuted  to  settlement 
or  final  judgment. 

Considering  the  many  and  varied  matters  which  were  involved  in  con- 
nection with  the  affairs  of  the  Exposition,  the  litigation  was  small  in  volume. 
Five  suits  were  for  damages  arising  from  personal  injuries,  and  aggregated 
$105,000.  These  particular  suits  were  settled  by  payment  to  the  parties  of 
the  aggregate  sum  of  $6,860.  The  services  of  Mr.  Montgomery  as  above  out- 
lined were  given  to  the  Exposition  Company  without  compensation. 

CONCESSIONS   AND   PRIVILEGES   DEPARTMENT 

Under  the  management  of  Abraham  L.  Reed,  assisted  by  S.  E.  Waclley. 
Superintendent,  the  operations  of  this  department  assumed  large  proportions, 
its  receipts  aggregating  $308,569.80.  The  results  are  shown  as  follows : 

Number  of  concessions  and  privilege  contracts 247 

Number  of  employes  in  the  department    91 

Number  of  employes  of  concessions  and  privilege  contract  holders 2,762 


258 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


RECEIPTS. 


Total    rent    charged    to    concessionaires $65,851.25 

Paid-up  privileges  concessionaires    50,802.35 

Percentage  concessionaires  177,294.58    $293,948.18 

Cashiers'  salaries,  concessionaires   $  12,139.88 

Cash  register  rent,  concessionaires 1,494.00 

Tickets    98945         14,623.33 

Total  charges  to  concessionaires $308,571.51 

DISBURSEMENTS. 

Voucher  credits  for  rebates  and  errors $  4,208.02 

Cashiers,  registers  and  tickets  charged  concessionaires 14,370.52 

Office  expense,  salaries,  etc 12,415.25 

Claims,  attorneys'  fees  and  costs 12,390.65 

Miscellaneous  expenses   5,931.41 

Transferred  to  Exhibits  and  Educational  Departments 16,181.94 

Total  Disbursements  $    70,497.79 

Amount   collected    2,033.16 

Net  cash  earnings 236,040.56 

$308,571.51 

TRANSPORTATION   DEPARTMENT 

William  N.  Babcock,  Manager.  The  object  sought  to  be  attained 
through  the  medium  of  this  branch  of  the  management  of  Exposition  affairs 
was  the  obtaining  and  promulgating  of  favorable  railroad  and  steamboat 
rates  for  exhibits  at  the  Exposition;  to  handle  and  account  for  exhibits  upon 
their  arrival  and  effect  their  safe  return  to  owners  at  the  close  of  the  Expo- 
sition. The  department  handled  5,417  consignments,  consisting  of  127,749 
packages,  weighing  10,603  tons,  which  business  was  transacted  with  such 
degree  of  efficiency  that  not  a  single  loss  or  damage  suit  was  filed  against 
the  Exposition  Company. 


11 


I — II — 'HE  educational  value  of  a  great  exposition  is  every- 
where conceded.     It  is  in  many  respects  a  school  of 
information  in  which  tens  of  thousands  of  visitors 
acquire  a  first  knowledge  of  things  in  which  they  feel  a 
special  interest.    Many  instances  might  be  cited,  if  necessary, 
in  support  of  this  fact.     In  a  great  international  exposition 
displaying  in   the   aggregate   acres   of   special   and   collective 
exhibits,  the  visitor  soon  finds  the  task  of  viewing  and  studying 
the  varied  collections  somewhat  irksome.     After  spending  a 
portion   of   the   day   in    such   pursuit,    he    feels   the   need   of 
diversion,  just  as  does  the  college  student  after  a  hard  day's  work  at 
his  studies.     This  self-evident  fact  led  the  Exposition  managers  to 
provide  a  playground  containing  many  forms  of  amusement,  in  order 
to  add  variety  and  zest  to  the  daily  bill  of  attractions  and  thus  relieve 
the  monotony  of  the  serious   side  of  the   Exposition  proper.     The 
amusement  section  of  the  Omaha  Exposition  proved  to  be  a  most 
attractive  adjunct.     It  was  not  permitted  to  descend  to  the  low  plane  of 
questionable    attractions,    and    because    of    this    rule    it    maintained    unusual 
popularity  to  the  end. 

Reference  to  the  map  of  the  Exposition  grounds  shows  two  sections  of 
the  Midway — one  on  the  Bluff  tract  began  at  the  Grand  Plaza  and  extended 
northward  parallel  to  Sherman  Avenue  to  the  northernmost  viaduct  spanning 
that  thoroughfare.  Crossing  over  this  viaduct,  the  visitor  entered  the  West 
Midway,  comprising  the  main  attractions.  This  section  lay  north  of  and 
parallel  to  the  Grand  Court,  terminating  at  a  point  opposite  to  the  axis  of 
the  Court — the  length  of  four  city  blocks  from  the  viaduct.  The  two  sections 
thus  lay  in  the  form  of  a  letter  L,  the  base  line  of  which  extended  east  and 
west  from  Sherman  Avenue. 


262 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Turkish  Minstrel 


These  show  features  proved  to  be  a  constant  attraction  to  visitors  as 
well  as  a  constant  source  of  revenue  to  the  Exposition.  The  manager  of 
concessions  reported  aggregate  receipts  in  the  sum  of  $276,112.  In  order  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  .general  characteristics  of  the  Midway 
Plaisance  it  is  necessary  to  mention  only  the  main  attractions, 
a  description  of  which  will  not  be  attempted. 

"Streets  of  all  Nations"  held  an  attraction  attempting 
to  present  types  of  many  different  races,  running  largely  to 
the  Oriental,  with  camel-riding,  fortune-telling,  curio-selling, 
etc. — not  unlike  the  chief  characteristics  of  "Streets  of  Cairo," 
occupying  a  more  advantageous  site  on  the  West  Midway, 
near  Twentieth  Street.  The  architecture  of  the  latter  was 
somewhat  artistic,  with  domes  and  minarets  and  stately 
mosque.  These  effects,  with  the  many  types  of  men  and 
women  of  the  Orient,  created  an  atmosphere  of  Egyptian 
life  fascinating  to  patrons  of  the  Exposition.  There  were 
characteristic  dances,  camels,  donkeys,  etc.  The  Moorish 
Palace  was  a  large  Algerian  temple  of  highly  pleasing 
architectural  design.  It  contained  wax  figures  of  men  and  women ;  a  chamber 
of  horrors,  said  to  be  a  reproduction  of  the  Inferno.  The  German  village  on 
the  Bluff  tract  was  of  quaint  architecture — "Bratwurst  Cloecklein,"  a  famous 
inn  of  Nuremburg,  centuries  old,  was  reproduced.  The  "Deutsch  Dorf" 
afforded  show  features.  The  Afro- American  Village  was  a  reproduction  of 
a  typical  Southern  plantation,  with  patches  of  cotton,  sugar  cane  and  tobacco. 
Native  darkies  sang  old 
plantation  melodies.  The 
Philippine  Village  on  the 
West  Midway  was  a  genuine 
attraction,  presenting  various 
types  of  men  and  women 
from  the  far-away  archi- 
pelago, illustrating  their 
customs,  songs,  language, 
habitations,  avocations,  etc. 
The  visitor  to  the  Chinese 
Village  could  well  have 
imagined  himself  walking 
in  the  streets  of  Pekin,  so 
closely  did  the  buildings  resemble  those  of  the  great  capital  of  China.  There 
was  bamboo  matting  of  fantastic  design,  and  a  bazaar  containing  a  great  variety 
of  Chinese  handiwork  and  curios  of  fare  design.  In  the  Chinese  theatre  there 


Moorish  Palace 


Midway  Plaisance  and  Music 


263 


were  native  actors  and  magicians.  One  of  the  chief  attractions  was  Hagen- 
beck's  Trained  Animal  Show.  There  was  a  miniature  railway  with  a 
locomotive  in  operation  weighing  450  pounds.  "Havana  and  the  Maine"  was 
a  reproduction  of  Havana  harbor  and  its  environs,  with  a  realistic  representa- 
tion of  the  sinking  of  the  big  battleship.  A  cyclorama,  "Merrimac  and 
Monitor,"  illustrated  the  historic  battle  of  those  warships.  On  the  East 
Midway  the  "Magic  Maze"  presented  a  labyrinth  of  flowers.  A  Japanese 


A  Section  of  the   North  Midway 

Tea  Garden  was  set  in  a  scene  of  rare  beauty.  Among  other  attractions  were 
these:  Haunted  Swing,  Giant  See-Saw — elevating  passengers  100  feet; 
Scenic  railway,  a  switch-back;  grottoes  containing  optical  illusions  in 
electricity;  shooting  the  chutes,  Wild  West  show,  mirror  maze —  an  illusion — 
Morro  Castle,  Plymouth  Colony,  Bohemian  Inn,  California  gold-mining  tunnel, 
glass-blowers,  ostrich  farm,  "incubator"  for  the  nurturing  of  very  young 
infants,  a  camera  obscura,  Edison's  wargraph,  depicting  the  bombardment  of 
Matanzas.  Cuba ;  Italian  villa,  the  flying  lady — an  illusion — and  others. 


Midway  Plaisance  and  Music 


265 


Streets  of  Cairo 

MUSIC 

The  music  of  the  Exposition  was  from  first  to  last  of  unfailing  excellence. 
No  single  feature  contributed  more  to  the  success  of  daily  programs  and 
special  events,  while  the  many  musical  feasts  served  to  patrons  marked  an 
epoch  in  the  development  of  musical  appreciation,  enhancing  the  popular 
taste  for  good  music.  No  other  exposition  did  more  in  the  way  of  creating 
a  general  desire  for  the  higher  quality  of  music,  Omaha  people,  particularly, 
receiving  a  liberal  education  from  musicians  of  first  rank  whose  artistic 
productions  delighted  everybody.  During  the  five  months  of  the  Exposition 
season  many  strong  musical  organizations  participated  in  the  programs.  The 
celebrated  Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra  of  Chicago  held  sway  for  five  weeks 
under  the  skillful  conductorship  of  Mr.  Arthur  Mees,  for  some  time  assistant 
conductor  to  Mr.  Thomas,  later  conducting  the  "People's  Concerts"  in  New 
York,  and  eminent  as  an  authority  on  musical  matters,  as  well  as  a  writer  of 
ability.  Emil  Bare  (now  of  Paris)  was  concert  meister,  Bruno  Steindel  was 
the  solo  cellist,  Schuecker  the  harpist  and  Quensel  the  solo  flute,  while  other 
instruments  were  represented  by  artists  of  high  standing.  The  Apollo  Club 


266 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


of  Chicago  gave  several  concerts  under  the  personal  direction  of  Mr.  William 
L.  Tomlins,  who  was  the  conductor  of  the  society.  This  organization  pre- 
sented the  "Swan  and  Skylark"  (Goring-Thomas),  "The  Messiah"  (Handel) 
in  part,  and  the  "Elijah"  (Mendelssohn)  in  combination  with  the  Exposition 
chorus  of  150  voices  in  "al  fresco"  concerts.  The  Minneapolis  Choral  Society, 
under  its  conductor,  Mr.  Willard  Patten,  gave  "Isaiah,"  a  work  composed 
by  him,  bringing  to  the  production  a  chorus  of  200  voices.  The  Dubuque 
Choral  Society,  under  the  conductorship  of  Mr.  Portius  Gane,  gave  the 
"Creation"  (Haydn),  and  "Barbara  Frietszche"  (Jules  Jordan),  with  about 
150  voices.  The  Exposition  Chorus  of  Omaha  gave  (with  its  150  singers) 
"Fair  Ellen"  (Max  Bruch),  the' "Rose  Maiden"  (Cowen),  the  "Daughter  of 
Jairus"  (Stainer)  and  innumerable  miscellaneous  numbers  at  concerts  in  the 
Auditorium,  on  the  Grand  Plaza  and  by  the  Lagoon.  Assisting  in  the  produc- 
tion of  these  works,  which  were  given  with  the  full  orchestra,-  were  the 
following  distinguished  artists:  Genevieve  Clark  Wilson,  Helen  Buckley, 
Jenny  Osborn,  Sophia  Markel,  Anna  Metcalf  (sopranos);  Katherine  Fisk, 
Mabelle  Crawford  and  Estelle  Rose  (contraltos) ;  George  Hamlin,  Holmes 
Cowper  and  Stowe  (tenors);  Charles  W.  Clark  (now  of  Paris)  and  Homer 
Moore  (baritones);  Frank  King  Clark  and  Edmund  Kuss  (bassos),  and 
many  others.  There  were  bands  galore :  The  United  States  Band,  under  the 
baton  of  Mr.  Phinney,  formerly  of  the  Iowa  State  Band;  The  Mexican 
Band,  under  the  chivalrous  and  suave  Capitane  Ricardo  Pacheco;  Innes 
and  his  famous  fifty,  who  captivated  the  people  beyond  measure  at  the  close 

of  the  Exposition;  Santelmann  and  his  great 
U.  S.  Marine  Band,  the  President's  own  band 
from  Washington,  D.  C.,  who  opened  the  Expo- 
sition. Many  smaller  bands  did  good  service, 
and  were  engaged  a  week  at  a  time.  The  organ 
in  the  Auditorium,  a  fine  three-manual,  was  a 
feature  of  the  programs,  organ  recitals  being 
given  daily  at  I  130  p.  m.  by  Thomas  J.  Kelley 
and  others.  The  work  of  the  Bureau  was  out- 
lined largely  by  Zachary  T.  Lindsey,  chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  was  developed 
and  carried  out  by  Willard  Kimball  of  the 
Nebraska  University  up  to  June  30,  and  by  his 
successor,  Thomas  J.  Kelley  of  Omaha,  from 

Thomas  J.   Kelley  ju,y    j    tf)  ^  dose  Qf  ^  Exposition  Qn  October 

31.  Miss  Julia  Officer  of  Council  Bluffs  was  engaged  to  assist  the  Bureau 
as  a  manager  of  artists.  The  music  of  the  Exposition  \vas  planned  in  such 


Midway  Plaisance  and  Music 


267 


a  way  as  to  please  all  classes  of  visitors.     It  was  broad  in  its  scope,  and  while 
entertaining,  it  was  also  highly  instructive. 

The  music  hall  or  auditorium  was  located  near  the  east  end  of  the  basin, 
and  near,  also,  the  Sherman  Avenue  entrance.  Architecturally  it  was  in 
keeping  with  the  general  style  of  buildings  in  the  Grand  Court.  The  seating 
capacity  was  1,100.  It  was  the  scene  of  many  notable  gatherings. 

GRAND   PLAZA 

On  the  Bluff  tract,  east  of  and  nearly  opposite  to  the  Grand  Court,  a 
wide,  open  space  was  provided  for  purposes  of  out-door  gatherings  of  all 
kinds,  open-air  band  concerts,  day  and  night,  and  especially  for  displays  of 
fireworks,  which  proved  to  be  a  constant  source  of  pleasure  to  visitors  during 
the  mid-summer  season.  The  managers  named  this  section  the  Grand  Plaza. 
Thousands  of  temporary  chairs  were  provided,  and  the  auditors  faced  a  large 
bandstand  having  a  high  sounding-board  rising  from  the  rear,  by  which  the 
sound  of  voices  and  instruments  was  deflected  to  a  remarkable  degree,  thus 
enhancing  the  effects  of  the  music.  The  popularity  of  the  Grand  Plaza  was 
very  great.  It  became  the  theatre  of  some  of  the  chief  historic  events  of  the 
Exposition  season.  Happily  the  official  photographer,  Frank  Rinehart,  made 
a  few  striking  pictures,  which  formed  the  only  permanent  record  remaining 
of  some  of  the  brilliant  scenes  enacted  there.  These  grand  spectacles  will  live 
long  in  the  memories  of  thousands  of  witnesses. 


The  Grotto 


1 — i|— ^HE  work  of  promoting  the  interests  of  the  Exposition 
in  the  beginning  was  accomplished  by  the  President 
of   the    Exposition    Company,    the    stockholders   and 
others  who  earnestly  desired  to  aid  the  projectors.     Their 
first  efforts  were  bent  to  bring  about  a  crystallization  of  sentiment 
on  the  part  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  State  legislatures  favorable  to 
the  Exposition,  and  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  their  congressional 
representatives  with  the  Nebraska  delegation  in  Congress,  to  the 
end  that  the  United  States  Government  be  prevailed  upon  to  participate; 
and  subsequently,  such  State  legislatures  were  invited  to  provide  for  a 
proper  representation  by  their  several  States. 

The  Department  of  Promotion,  which  was  formed  in  December, 
^  1896,  at  the  reorganization  of  the  company,  had  a  very  difficult  and 
important  task  to  perform  in  connection  with  the  affairs  of  the  Exposition; 
difficult  because  of  the  fact  that  the  project  was  entered  upon  at  a  time 
when  Nebraskans,  especially,  were  suffering  from  the  combined  ill-effects 
of  the  financial  panic  of  1893,  and  the  drouths  of  1894  and  1895,  with  incident 
crop  failures — a  period  when  men  were  little  disposed  to  invest  money  in  a 
venture  which  many  prophesied  would  be  a  dismal  failure.  However,  the 
indomitable  spirit  of  courage  and  energy  of  those  who  had  undertaken  the  great 
task  of  building  an  exposition  was  shared  by  those  who  directed  the  affairs  of 
the  Department  of  Promotion,  so  that  in  spite  of  the  croakings  and  dire 
forebodings  of  many,  the  work  was  taken  hold  of  with  a  zeal  and  earnestness 
which  brought  good  results. 

The  initial  State  legislation  in  behalf  of  the  Exposition  was  secured 
through  the  efforts  of  a  joint  committee  of  Omaha  and  Council  Bluffs  people, 
comprising  the  following :  G.  W.  Wattles,  John  A.  Wakefield,  ex-Governor 
Alvin  Saunders,  Judge  W.  S.  Strawn  and  Z.  T.  Lindsey  of  Omaha,  and 


270 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Charles  F.   Manderson 


Frank  Murphy 


J.   H.  Millard 


Messrs.  E.  H.  Odell,  Charles  R.  Hannan,  I.  M.  Treynor,  W.  G.  Moore  and 
Thomas  C.  Dawson  of  Council  Bluffs,  which  committee  went  to  Des  Moines 
on  February  10,  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  introduced  by  C.  S.  Montgomery, 
and  adopted  at  a  directors'  meeting  held  January  27,  1896.  The  result  of  the 
efforts  of  the  committee  at  that  time  was  the  passage  of  a  resolution  by  the 
Iowa  State  legislature  approving  the  movement  to  hold  an  exposition  at 
Omaha  in  1898,  and  calling  upon  its  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress 
to  co-operate  with  the  Nebraska  delegation  in  an  effort  to  secure  the  enact- 
ment of  legislation  then  pending,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  provide  for 
participation  on  the  part  'of  the  United  States  by  the  erection  of  a  Government 
building  on  the  Exposition  grounds  and  the  installation  of  exhibits  therein. 

In  furtherance  of  the  work  of  promotion  it  was  deemed  proper  to  act 
upon  the  suggestions  received  through  the  mails  that  delegations  be  sent  to 
State  capitals  to  lay  the  matter  of  the  Exposition  project  before  the  different 
Legislatures,  and  Messrs.  Wattles,  Lindsey  and  Babcock  were  delegated  to  act 
as  a  committee  to  arrange  for  such  trips. 

During  the  month  of  February,  1897,  several  trips  were  arranged  for 
and  were  made  by  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  to  the  north,  the  south, 
and  the  west.  Perhaps  the  most  notable  of  these  journeys  was  that  of  the 
delegation  which  traveled  west  in  a  private  Pullman  car  which  was  hauled  by 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  and  other  railroads  leading  to  the  capitals  of  nine 
different  western  States.  In  most  of  these  States  the  delegation  was  given  a 
hearing  before  a  special  joint  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  while  on  account 
of  depleted  treasuries,  due  to  hard  times,  some  of  the  States  failed  to  make 
appropriations,  yet  much  work  to  the  advantage  of  the  Exposition  was  accom- 
plished by  this  delegation,  which  comprised  the  following  directors,  who  were 


Promotion 


271 


accompanied  by  their  wives:  G.  W.  Wattles,  President;  W.  S.  Poppleton, 
G.  M.  Hitchcock,  Clement  Chase,  John  L.  Webster,  and  H.  E.  Palmer.  The 
itinerary  of  this  party  included  visits  to  the  capitals  of  the  following  States : 
Kansas,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Utah,  Montana,  Idaho,  Oregon  and  California. 
Another  expedition  was  headed  northward  about  the  same  time,  reaching 
the  capital  of  the  State  of  Minnesota  February  17,  1897,  and  thereafter 
visiting,  among  other  places,  the  capitals  of  North  and  South  Dakota.  The 
personnel  of  this  party  was  as  follows :  Z.  T.  Lindsey,  L.  C.  Crofoot  and 


The  First  Promotion  Expedition 

I.  W.  Carpenter  of  Omaha,  and  C.  M.  Harl  of  Council  Bluffs.  This  delegation 
occupied  the  private  car  of  General  Manager  Bidwell  of  the  Northwestern 
Railway. 

The  South  Dakota  Legislature  adjourned  without  making  an  appropria- 
tion in  aid  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition,  but  passed  resolutions  heartily 
commending  it  and  recommending  that  South  Dakota  be  well  represented 
through  the  medium  of  private  subscriptions.  The  Nebraska  delegation 
believed  that  the  wealthy  citizens  of  that  State  would  take  such  an  interest  in 
the  matter  that  Marcus  Daly's  generosity,  hereafter  referred  to,  would  be  out- 
done, and  that  a  fund  of  not  less  than  $25,000  would  be  raised  wherewith  to 


272 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


G.  M.  Hitchcock 


Thomas  Kilpatrick 


John  L.   Webster 


make  a  proper  exhibit.  A  snow  storm  prevented  the  Omaha  delegates  from 
leaving  Pierre  as  soon  as  they  had  expected  to  do,  but  the  week  they  spent 
there  was  not  wasted,  as  the  legislators  were  likewise  weather  bound  and  ample 
opportunity  was  presented  wherein  to  do  missionary  work,  of  which  the 
Exposition  boomers  duly  availed  themselves. 

Still  another  expedition  left  Omaha  during  February,  this  excursion 
being  headed  southward,  the  points  it  was  planned  to  visit  including  Jefferson 
City,  Mo.,  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  Texarkana,  Waco,  Ft.  Worth,  El  Paso  and 
Austin,  Tex.,  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  Guthrie,  Okla.  However,  due  to 
unforeseen  contingencies  arising,  some  changes  were  made  so  that  the  party, 
comprising  Messrs.  Euclid  Martin,  C.  S.  Montgomery,  J.  O.  Phillippi,  E.  J. 
Cornish,  Rev.  S.  Wright  Butler,  and  Major  E.  H.  Crowder  from  Omaha,  and 
Judge  A.  J.  Cornish  of  Lincoln,  visited  instead  St.  Louis  and  Jefferson  City, 
Mo.,  Little  Rock  and  Hot  Springs,  Ark.,  San  Antonio,  Tex.,  and  the  City  of 
Mexico,  Orizaba  and  Cordova,  Mex.  In  Mexico  the  delegation  received  a 
private  audience  with  President  Diaz,  who  took  great  interest  in  the  enterprise 
and  intimated  that  as  soon  as  his  Government  received  an  invitation  from  the 
proper  officials  of  the  United  States  to  participate  in  the  Exposition,  Mexico 
would  take  steps  to  be  properly  represented. 

About  this  time  other  excursions  were  made  by  individual  directors,  or 
committees  appointed  by  the  board,  to  points  less  distant  from  Omaha,  and 
such  visitations  were  productive  of  much  good  in  creating  a  sentiment  favor- 
able to  the  great  undertaking,  and  also  by  securing  contributions  and  sub- 
scriptions to  stock  in  the  enterprise;  members  of  State  Legislatures  in  the 
Trans-Mississippi  country  to  the  number  of  considerably  more  than  2,000 
were  communicated  with  and  copies  of  proposed  bill  helpful  to  the  cause 


Promotion 


273 


H.  A.  Thompson 


C.   M.  Wilhelm 


George  F.   Bidwell 


were  sent  forward;  circular  letters  were  furnished  to  business  men  which  set 
forth  the  merits  of  the  cause,  and  they  distributed  among  their  customers 
copies  thereof  to  the  number  of  50,000.  Congressman  Mercer  visited  the 
Embassies  in  Washington  and  endeavored  to  persuade  the  diplomatic  corps  to 
send  consuls  to  Omaha  during  the  Exposition  period  so  that  exhibitors  and 
would-be  exhibitors  could  have  resident  representatives  of  their  respective 
countries  upon  whom  they  might  call  or  inquire  of  concerning  the  Exposition. 
The  hearty  co-operation  of  Mr.  H.  N.  Higginbotham,  former  President  of  the 
World's  Fair,  was  secured,  and  he  accompanied  a  delegation  of  Nebraskans  to 
Springfield,  111.,  in  the  interest  of  a  bill  then  pending  before  the  Illinois  State 
Legislature,  and  in  meeting  the  claims  that  the  State  treasury  was  depleted 
and  retrenchment  necessary,  he  called  attention  to  the  aid  Nebraska  had  rerv 
dered  the  World's  Fair  project,  asked  for  reciprocal  action,  and  indicated 
that  assistance  given  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  in  the  form  of  appropri- 
ate State  representation  would  be  highly  advantageous  to  the  State  of  Illinois. 
So  convincing  were  the  arguments  adduced  by  the  delegation  in  question,  that 
the  Illinois  Legislature  later  appropriated  $45,000  with  which  a  State  exhibit 
was  made,  which  occupied  60,000  square  feet  of  floor  space  in  the  various 
exhibit  buildings,  while  a  magnificent  State  building  was  created  at  a  cost  of 
nearly  $19,000,  which  contained,  among  other  things,  famous  paintings  by 
John  R.  Key,  and  which  was  visited  by  16,000  residents  of  Illinois,  many  of 
whom  were  privileged  to  take  part  in  the  notable  ceremonies  of  two  special 
days  set  apart  for  the  State  of  Illinois.  One  of  these  was  designated  as 
"Illinois  Day"  and  the  other  "Chicago  Day." 

Manager  Hitchcock  of  the  Department  of  Promotion  instigated  and  made 
considerable  progress  with  a  plan  to  secure  the  mobilization  at  Omaha  during 


274 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  E x position 


G.  W.  Holdrege 


C.  W.  Lyman 


R.  S.  Wilcox 


the  Exposition  period  of  the  National  Guard,  and  a  portion  of  the  United 
States  army,  but  resigned  his  position  as  the  head  of  that  department  before 
the  scheme  had  fully  matured.  Before  anything  definite  was  accomplished 
in  regard  to  it,  war  clouds  appeared  and  actual  hostilities  later  entirely  pre- 
vented the  accomplishment  of  what  would  have  been  a  great  feature  of  the 
Exposition. 

The  Governor  of  Nebraska  was  prevailed  upon  to  issue  a  proclamation 
to  citizens  of  Nebraska  inviting  active  co-operation  to  make  the  undertaking 
a  success,  and  he  also  issued  a  similar  proclamation  to  the  Governors  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  States. 

A  movement  was  set  on  foot  to  secure  a  Congress  of  Agricultural  Socie- 
ties at  Omaha,  during  the  Exposition,  and  the  good  will  of  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  was  secured  to  this  end.  He  stated  that  his  department  would  be 
represented  and  he  himself  would  endeavor  to  be  present.  United  States 
Consuls  were  furnished  with  information  regarding  the  Exposition,  and  their 
interest  and  assistance  enlisted  and  generally  secured  in  the  cause. 

Manager  Rosewater  called  on  the  Postmaster-General  and  prevailed  on 
him  to  issue  a  series  of  commemorative  postage  stamps,  but  not  without 
some  effort.  Under  the  impression  that  the  Exposition  would  be  but  local  in 
character,  the  Postmaster-General  at  first  declined  to  look  with  favor  on  the 
suggestion,  but  proof  being  furnished  him  from  the  Department  of  State  that 
the  United  States  Government  had  recognized  its  international  feature  by 
issuing  invitations  to  foreign  nations  to  participate,  the  Postmaster-General 
consented  to  order  a  special  issue  of  stamps,  which  was  done. 

A  large  party  of  representative  Nebraskans  left  Omaha  in  two  Pullman 
cars  on  February  13,  1898,  bent  solely  upon  performing  missionary  work  in 


Promotion 


275 


John   A.   Creighton 


W.   A.   Paxton 


J.   L.    Brandeis 


the  interest  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition.  This  excursion  to  the  south 
was  planned  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Green.  The  itinerary  of  the  tour  embraced  seven- 
teen of  the  principal  cities  of  the  central  east  and  far  southern  districts  of  the 
country,  traveling  over  eleven  lines  of  railroad  and  through  twelve  great 
States.  Following  is  the  personnel  of  the  party.  Rev.  S.  Wright  Butler, 
Hon.  E.  J.  Cornish,  H.  R.  Corbett,  C.  Orcutt,  W.  D.  Edwards,  R.  J.  Dinning, 
Robert  Purvis,  H.  F.  Cady,  G.  F.  Munro,  J.  J.  Gibson,  M.  F.  Sears,  J.  A. 
Frenzer,  F.  D.  Wead,  E.  W.  Arthur,  L.  J.  Patterson,  A.  R.  Edmiston,  W.  F. 
Lorensen,  of  Omaha;  L.  P.  Davis,  H.  P.  Victor,  W.  H.  Rehlaender,  N.  C. 
Brock,  F.  B.  Harris,  Jos.  Junge,  Chas.  Newbrandt,  Ernest  Hopper,  Herman 
Pobenz,  J.  W.  Bowen,  of  Lincoln;  F.  A.  Cameron,  R.  A.  Smith,  E.  W.  Peter- 
son, R.  R.  Latta,  Edward  Latta,  of  Tekamah;  F.  A.  Dean,  F.  Johnson, 
L  Brown,  of  Holdrege;  G.  B.  Darr,  J.  L.  May,  E.  M.  F.  Leflang,  of  Lexington; 
E.  H.  Grist,  A.  O.  Shaw,  of  Tecumseh;  C.  P.  Parrish,  L.  Rosenthal,  of  West 
Point;  R.  D.  Philips,  S.  A.  D.  Henline,  of  Kearney;  A.  E.  Hunter,  G.  L.  Day. 
of  Superior;  Jno.  Snodgrass,  A.  G.  Burbank,  of  Springfield;  B.  P.  Sprague,  of 
Beatrice;  F.  E.  White,  of  Plattsmouth;  R.  H.  Peyton,  of  Creighton;  D.  H. 
Frahm,  of  Wakefield;  P.  O.  Avery,  of  Humboldt;  H.  E.  Norton,  Kenesaw; 
Dr.  S.  S.  Glover,  Arlington;  C.  R.  Glover,  of  Valentine;  R.  McConaughy, 
M.D..  York;  C.  W.  Kaley,  Red  Cloud;  Z.  T.  Noyes,  Missouri  Valley,  Iowa; 
D.  L.  Heinshmeier,  Kenwood,  Iowa;  E.  A.  Wickham,  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa; 
B.  W.  Carlisle,  of  Missouri  Valley,  Iowa. 

At  St.  Louis,  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  Dayton,  Springfield,  Columbus, 
Richmond,  Indianapolis,  Terre  Haute,  East  St.  Louis,  Jackson,  Mobile,  New 
Orleans,  Baton  Rouge,  Memphis,  stops  of  several  hours'  duration  were  made, 
and  at  most  of  the  places  arrangements  had  been  effected  for  meeting  in  some 


276 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


John  H.   Evans 


I.  W.  Carpenter 


Edw.   Dickinson 


public  place  where  opportunity  was  offered  to  members  of  the  delegation  to 
make  known  the  object  of  their  visit,  and  by  visiting-  clubs,  etc.,  considerable 
work  was  done  in  the  direction  of  awakening  an  interest  in  favor  of  the 
Exposition;  also,  by  the  distribution  of  literature  and  otherwise,  the  people 
were  made  familiar  with  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  Exposition 
project. 

Having,  by  commingling  with  the  people,  exercised  an  influence  boding 
good  for  the  Exposition,  the  department  later  kept  in  touch  by  correspondence 
with  those  sections  where  encouragement  seemed  needful  to  secure  desired 
action ;  and  where  apathy  or  non-action  appeared,  representatives  of  the 
Exposition  were  sent  again  among  the  people  and  the  work  persisted  in, 
despite  the  existence  of  discouraging  conditions,  until  success  was  attained. 
Then,  desiring  "to  be  shown,"  people  from  other  States,  sometimes  under 
commissions  from  the  Governors,  visited  Omaha  to  determine  for  them- 
selves whether  or  not  the  representations  made  to  them  by  interested  parties 
with  reference  to  the  Exposition  were  borne  out  by  the  facts  in  the  case.  Their 
visits  were  frequently  productive  of  immediate  good,  as  the  delegates  would 
return  with  such  glowing  accounts  of  the  Exposition  plans  and  progress 
being  made  thereon,  that  their  sponsors  became  fired  with  enthusiasm  for 
the  enterprise  and  a  desire  for  representation. 

Much  of  what  has  been  written  with  reference  to  the  various  excursions 
inaugurated  for  promotion  purposes  may  not  appear  to  be  very  material  in  a 
history  of  this  character,  and  would  not  be,  but  for  the  fact  of  the  incalculable 
benefits  accruing  to  the  enterprise  by  reason  thereof.  A  strong  sentiment  had 
been  fostered  in  many  quarters  that  the  proposed  exhibit  would  be  a  very 
commonplace  affair;  was  local  in  character  and  that  its  promoters  in  efforts 


277 


Casper  E.   Yost 


John  C.   Wharton 


Arthur  C.  Smith 


at  exploitation  had  allowed  their  enthusiasm  such  latitude  as  to  lead  them 
into  making  extravagant  claims  concerning  the  project,  and  it  was  in  large 
part  to  overcome  this  erroneous  impression  that  representative  Nebraska  citi- 
zens went  forth  to  interview  and  to  convince  the  leading  citizens  of  other 
States,  that  the  Exposition  would  be  just  such  a  one  as  claimed;  and,  judged 
by  results,  the  method  adopted  succeeded  where  no  other  plan  could  have 
done  so. 

The  treasuries  of  many  States  were  not  in  a  healthy  condition,  some  com- 
pletely depleted,  only  nine  Trans-Mississippi  States  promising  an  exhibit  at 
the  time  the  bill  was  signed  which  gave  assurance  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment participating;  yet  when  the  gates  of  the  Exposition  were  opened, 
each  and  every  State  and  territory  in  that  vast  region  was  represented  by 
exhibits  of  an  intensely  interesting  character. 

One  of  several  instances  might  be  cited  where  success  was  snatched  from 
a  situation  which  spelled  failure.  A  visit  of  a  Nebraska  delegation  to  the 
Montana  capital  was  had  on  Washington's  birthday,  1897,  and  the  situation 
then  did  not  look  promising.  The  party  on  leaving  Helena  went  to  Butte, 
where  Manager  Hitchcock,  of  the  Department  of  Promotion,  met  Mr.  Marcus 
Daly,  a  man  of  prominence  and  great  influence  in  that  State.  The  mission 
of  the  party  was  unfolded  to  that  gentleman,  and  the  outcome  of  the  visit  to 
the  State  Legislature  was  made  known  to  him.  He  at  first  was  disinclined 
to  become  interested,  but  the  argument  made  by  Mr.  Hitchcock  soon  secured 
from  him  a  promise  to  do  what  he  could  to  help  out  the  Exposition.  The  dele- 
gation proceeded  on  its  way,  but  had  traveled  less  than  500  miles  when  a 
telegram  apprised  them  of  the  fact  that  an  offer  of  Mr.  Daly  to  duplicate 
any  amount  appropriated  by  the  State  of  Montana  for  representation  at  the 


278 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Charles  Metz 


J.   J.  Brown 


J.   E.   Markel 


Trans-Mississippi  Exposition,  had  been  considered,  and  $15,000  appropriated 
by  the  State,  so  that  an  exhibit  from  Montana  costing  not  less  than  $30,000 
was  assured. 

Considerable  effort  had  been  put  forth  by  Manager  Rosexvater  of  the 
Department  of  Publicity  and  Promotion,  to  secure  favorable  consideration  of 
a  scheme  to  hold  an  Indian  Congress  at  the  Exposition,  and  by  dint  of  hard 
work  on  the  part  of  those  interested  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  enter- 
prise, a  bill  was  passed  by  Congress  which  guaranteed  an  exhibition  of  the 
character  referred  to,  which  proved  to  be  a  stellar  attraction,  for  never  before 
had  such  a  large  and  interesting  gathering  of  the  tribes  of  red  men  been 
effected  as  that  which  distinguished  the  Omaha  Exposition  of  1898. 

A  bureau  of  special  attractions  was  organized,  but  much  was  accom- 
plished by  the  Promotion  Department  along  those  lines,  notably  the  work 
done  in  connection  with  the  engagement  of  the  Marine  band,  as  well  as  the 
assembling  of  representatives  from  numerous  tribes  of  Indians  at  a  so-called 
Congress. 

The  Exposition  project  contended  with  many  untoward  conditions, 
passed  through  many  trying  situations,  and  succeeded  only  because  of  the 
unwavering  faith  its  promoters  had  in  the  outcome,  and  the  good  generalship 
displayed  in  the  management  of  its  affairs.  When  first  mooted,  the  idea  of 
sending  out  excursions  was  frowned  down,  and  not  until  demands  were  made 
by  residents  of  neighboring  States  for  representative  Nebraska  citizens  to  be 
sent  among  them  with  a  view  to  enlightening  them  concerning  the  true  status 
of  the  Exposition,  was  the  importance  of  such  a  move  appreciated  by  many 
of  the  Exposition  directors.  The  work  which  presented  itself  for  the  dele- 
gations to  perform,  and  the  resulting  benefits  which  later  became  manifest, 


Promotion 


279 


Thomas  Hoctor 


L.   H.   Korty 


J.   A.  Johnson 


demonstrated  beyond  peradventure  the  wisdom  of  such  a  move,  and  especially 
notable  are  the  results  thus  accomplished  in  view  of  the  fact  that  during  the 
period  of  greatest  activity,  the  Exposition  boomers  who  traveled  through 
many  States,  endeavoring  to  enthuse  and  move  to  action  the  people  of  the 
western  States,  were  unable  to  point  to  very  great  results  actually  accom- 
plished in  the  way  of  securing  material  support  outside  of  the  city  of  Omaha. 
The  pending  bill  in  the  Nebraska  State  Legislature  had  not  been  passed,  so 
that  when  asked  what  the  State  of  Nebraska  had  done  to  help  the  work  along, 
the  delegations  were  compelled  to  make  the  humiliating  admission  that  it  had 
done  nothing.  Hence,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  task  of  securing  the  desired 
co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  surrounding  States  was  a  difficult  and  dis- 
couraging one.  The  opposition  to  passage  of  the  bill  pending  before  the 
Nebraska  State  Legislature  was  met  and  successfully  overcome  by  those  upon 
whom  had  fallen  much  of  the  burden  of  the  promotion  work.  The  bill  in 
question  carried  an  appropriation  of  $100,000;  thereafter  Douglas  County 
raised  a  like  sum,  and  the  city  of  Omaha  augmented  the  total  by  some  thirty 
thousand  dollars  expended  in  parking  and  such  work  in  aid  of  the  Exposition. 
These  events,  in  connection  with  the  bill  passed  by  Congress  providing  for  a 
Government  building  and  exhibit,  gave  great  impetus  to  the  promotion  work, 
increased  the  growing  interest  in  the  Exposition,  and  brought  about  such  a 
demand  for  space  in  the  exhibition  building  provided  for  in  the  general  plan, 
that  the  construction  of  additional  buildings  became  imperative.  Thirty-five 
States  appointed  Exposition  commissioners  and  the  following  appropriations 
were  made  to  cover  expenses  of  participating  in  the  Exposition : 

State  of  Nebraska   $100,000 

Douglas  County,  Nebraska   100,000 


280 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Dr.  E.  W.  Lee 


Lucius  Wells 


W.   S.   Jardine 


State  of  Illinois    $  45iOOO 

State  of  Iowa    30,000 

State  of  Montana*  30,000 

State  of  Georgia  10,000 

State  of  Utah   8,000 

State  of  Ohio   3,000 

State  of  New  York  10,000 

Territory  of  Arizona  2,000 

Total     $338,000 

Funds  raised  privately : 

Kansas    $  22,000 

Minnesota    30,000 

South   Dakota    5,ooo 

Wisconsin 25,000 

Oregon     10,000 

Washington     15,000 

Oklahoma    5,000 

New  Mexico  3,000 

Wyoming    1 5,000 

Los  Angeles  County,  Cal 10,000 

Missouri     15,000 

Colorado    10,000 

Texas    10,000 

$175,000 

State   appropriations    $338,000 

Private  subscriptions  1 75,000 

Grand  total $513.000 

*One-half  of  this  amount  was  given  by  Marcus  Daly,  of  Butte,  Montana. 

Nearly  one  hundred  conventions  of  various  organizations,  national.  State, 
etc.,  were  induced  to  meet  at  Omaha  during  the  Exposition  period ;  and  many 


Promotion 


281 


Ernest  E.   Hart 


E.  C.   Price 


F.  B.  Hibbard 


"Special  Days"  at  the  Exposition  were  arranged  for  with  appropriate  cere- 
monies. 

The  strained  relations  existing  between  this  country  and  Spain  during  the 
early  part  of  1898,  followed  by  the  declaration  of  war,  naturally  interfered 
with  some  of  the  plans  of  the  promoters  of  the  Exposition,  but  not  to  the 
extent  of  postponing  the  date  for  opening  the  Exposition,  the  gates  to  which 
swung  inward  on  the  appointed  day.  About  this  time  the  Washington  Post 
remarked  that  "the  people  out  at  Omaha  are  quite  enterprising,  but  they  will 
be  sure  to  ascertain  that  this  thing  of  running  an  Exposition  in  opposition  to 
a  war,  is  no  good  job."  Those  interested  had  doubtless  become  cognizant  of 
that  fact,  but  undismayed,  they  applied  themselves  with  redoubled  ardor  to 
get  out  the  crowds,  and  so  well  did  they  succeed  that  the  Exposition  has  title 
to  the  claim  of  being  the  first  of  the  kind  in  America  to  pay  back  to  the  stock- 
holders any  considerable  amount  of  the  money  invested — the  Trans-Mississippi 
Exposition  Company  returning  to  its  stockholders  90  per  cent  of  the  face 
value  of  their  stock. 

The  war  with  Spain  being  at  an  end,  a  "Peace  Jubilee"  at  the  Exposition 
was  suggested,  the  idea  was  adopted,  and  steps  were  taken  to  bring  it  about. 
The  President  of  the  United  States,  his  cabinet  officers,  the  diplomatic  corps, 
United  States  Senators,  and  others  of  prominence,  were  invited  to  participate. 
The  President  and  his  official  family  accepted  the  invitation  given,  a  large 
number  of  the  diplomatic  corps  did  likewise,  and  the  week  of  October  9-15 
was  the  time  fixed  upon  for  the  visit,  which  week  was  destined  to  be  the  banner 
one  of  the  Exposition  period.  The  attendance  was  immense,  and  the  interest- 
ing scenes  incident  to  the  visit  of  so  many  notables  to  the  Exposition  were 
features  of  the  occasion. 


282 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


A.  H.   Noyes 


Dudley  Smith 


Fred  M.   Youngs 


The  campaign  for  congressional  recognition  began  in  January,  1896,  and 
culminated  June  6  of  that  year  by  the  passage  of  an  act  providing  for  the 
erection  of  a  Government  building  on  the  Exposition  grounds  and  the  placing 
therein  of  exhibits  illustrating  the  operations  of  the  various  departments  of 
government.  For  these  purposes  the  bill  carried  an  appropriation  of  $200,000. 
Later,  Congress  appropriated  $45,000  for  the  Indian  exhibit  In  both 
instances  the  action  of  Congress  was  due  in  great  part  to  the  ceaseless  activities 
of  many  of  Omaha's  most  prominent  men. 


Illinois  Exhibit  Building 


URING  the  fall  of  1895,  a  number  of  prominent  and 
public-spirited  Omaha  citizens  decided  that  an  Expo- 
sition of  a  character  and  on  a  scale  calculated  to 
portray    the    resources    and    development    of    the    Trans- 
Mississippi  country  should  be  held  in  Omaha;  and  as  a  result 
of  such   conclusion  a   resolution   strongly   favoring  such  a 
movement  was  introduced  in  and  adopted  by  the  Transr-Mississippi 
Congress  at  its  session  in  Omaha  during  November  of  that  year. 
The  men  who  took  the  initiative  in  the  matter  were  those  who 
had  been  the  leading  spirits  in  the  Omaha  Fair  and  Speed  Associa- 
tion, whose  efforts  to  induce  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  to  hold 
the  State  Fair  in  Omaha  had  been  successful.     These  men  were 
among  the  first  to  see  the  need  of  a  larger  Exposition,  and  were  firm 
in  the  belief  that  Omaha  possessed  strength  enough  to  project  it. 
Most  of  these  men  were  called  to  serve  in  the  first  directory  of  eleven 
men,  named  on  the  following  page.     Among  others  were  John  A. 
\Yakefielcl,  Z.  T.  Lindsey,  Frank  D.  Brown,  Geo.  H.  Kelley,  William  Krug 
and  Wm.  A.  Paxton,  Jr. 

Meetings  were  subsequently  held  in  furtherance  of  the  object,  and  on 
January  18,  1896,  a  citizens'  meeting  effected  an  organization  by  adopting 
articles  of  incorporation,  prepared  by  C.  S.  Montgomery,  which  contemplated 
an  Exposition  to  be  held  June  I,  to  November  i,  1898,  instead  of  from  August 
to  October  as  provided  in  the  tentative  draft  of  articles  of  incorporation  pre- 
sented by  the  committee.  The  authorized  capital  stock  was  $1,000,000  at  $10 
per  share,  complete  organization  to  be  effected  after  $10,000  had  been  sub- 
scribed. 

Subscriptions  were  called  for  and  those  attending  the  meeting  promptly 
subscribed  $10,650  whereupon  the  assemblage  resolved  itself  into  a  stock- 


286 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


C.  F.  Weller 


W.   R.  Bennett 


G.  H.  Payne 


holders'  meeting;  the  articles  of  incorporation  as  amended  were  read  and 
forthwith,  on  motion,  approved. 

Eleven  directors  were  then  elected,  as  follows :  Gurdon  W.  Wattles, 
Jacob  A.  Markel,  W.  R.  Bennett,  John  H.  Evans,  Dudley  Smith,  Dan'l 
Farrell,  Jr.,  Geo.  H.  Payne,  Charles  Metz,  Isaac  W.  Carpenter,  Henry  A. 
Thompson  and  C.  S.  Montgomery. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  was  held  January  20,  1896, 
and  the  following  officers  were  then  elected:  Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  President; 
Jacob  E.  Markel,  Vice-President ;  John  A.  Wakefield,  Secretary. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Odell,  representing  the  Manufacturers'  and  Merchants'  Club 
at  Council  Bluffs,  appeared  at  this  meeting  and  made  manifest  the  friendly 
interest  which  the  people  of  Council  Bluffs  entertained  for  the  undertaking, 
which  led  to  the  formation  of  a  committee  representing  Council  Bluffs.  The 
subsequent  co-operation  of  this  committee  with  the  efforts  of  the  Exposition 
management  was  of  no  little  benefit  in  securing  the  enactment  of  federal  legis- 
lation on  June  10,  1896,  providing  for  representation  by  the  United  States 
at  the  Exposition. 

On  January  24,  1896,  Herman  Kountze  was  elected  treasurer,  Carroll 
S.  Montgomery,  general  counsel  and  John  E.  Utt,  railway  commissioner.  At 
the  same  meeting  by-laws  were  presented  and  adopted. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  held  May  23,  1898,  it  was 
decided  to  make  an  issue  of  negotiable  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $200,000  secured 
by  a  mortgage  on  50  per  cent  of  the  gate  receipts  and  upon  the  buildings  and 
other  property  of  the  Exposition.  The  bonds  and  the  mortgage  to  protect 
them  were  prepared,  providing  that  Joseph  H.  Millard.  President  of  the 


Organisation  and  Reorganization 


287 


T.  S.   Clarkson 


Allen  T.  Rector 


J.  H.   Hussie 


Omaha  National  Bank,  Charles  W.  Lyman,  President  of  the  Commercial 
National  Bank,  and  (the  late)  Frank  Murphy,  President  of  the  Merchants' 
National  Bank,  should  be  a  board  of  trustees  for  the  bonds.  For  various 
reasons  the  bonds  were  never  issued  and  were  finally  destroyed. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  June  19,  1896,  it  was  decided 
to  call  a  meeting  for  July  20,  and  to  issue  special  invitations  to  leading  citizens 
to  serve  as  a  bureau  of  finance  for  the  Exposition.  The  meeting  was  held, 
and  after  full  discussion  a  resolution  was  adopted  recommending  that  the  sum 
of  half  a  million  dollars  be  raised  through  stock  subscriptions,  and  that  a 
permanent  finance  committee  be  named  which  would  have  custody  of  all  funds 
and  have  general  financial  management  of  the  Exposition.  The  resolution 
named  the  following  men  as  members  of  the  committee :  Herman  Kountze, 
Joseph  H.  Millard,  Frank  Murphy,  F.  P.  Kirkendall,  Z.  T.  Lindsey,  G.  W. 
Wattles,  G.  W.  Lininger,  Alvin  Saunders,  H.  W.  Yates,  V.  B.  Caldwetl, 
A.  L.  Reed,  E.  E.  Bruce,  E.  Rosewater,  Edwin  A.  Cuclahy,  Alfred  Millard, 
Lucius  Wells,  Guy  C.  Barton,  Frank  Colpetzer,  W.  S.  Poppleton,  C.  E.  Yost, 
W.  A.  Paxton,  J.  A.  Creighton,  C.  F.  Manderson,  Harold  McCormick,  David 
Anderson. 

This  committee  pursuant  to  instructions  prepared  a  report  which  was 
submitted  at  a  meeting  of  citizens  on  June  22,  1896.  This  report  recom- 
mended a  plan  of  organization  which  was  for  the  most  part  adopted  by  the 
Board  of  Directors,  who  based  the  re-organization  plans  upon  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  committee  whose  special  report  was  signed  by  the  follow- 
ing men :  Herman  Kountze,  Joseph  H.  Millard,  Henry  W.  Yates,  Guy  C. 
Barton,  C.  E.  Yost  and  F.  P.  Kirkendall. 


288  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

At  the  citizens'  meeting  held  on  July  20,  a  soliciting  committee  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose,  as  follows : 

STOCK  SOLICITING  COMMITTEE 

Capitalists  and  real  estate  owners,  bankers,  brokers,  collection  agencies 
and  their  employes — H.  Kountze,  chairman;  G.  W.  Wattles,  E.  A.  Benson, 
A.  L.  Reed,  W.  L.  Selby,  W.  G.  Shriver. 

Transportation  companies  and  franchised  corporations  and  their 
employes — Z.  T.  Lindsey,  chairman;  C.  F.  Weller,  E.  E.  Bruce,  F.  P. 
Kirkendall,  Edgar  Allen,  O.  C.  Holmes,  F.  Colpetzer,  et  al. 

Retailers  and  their  employes — H.  A.  Thompson,  chairman;  A.  Hospe, 
Jr.,  O.  D.  Kiplinger,  John  Hussie,  et  al. 

Hotels,  restaurants,  boarding  houses,  theatres  and  their  employes — I.  W. 
Carpenter,  W.  R.  Bennett,  E.  Brandeis. 

Brewers,  liquor  dealers  and  their  employes — Charles  Metz,  chairman; 
Otto  Seimssen,  H.  E.  Palmer,  Jno.  A.  Johnson,  Dudley  Smith. 

Printers,  publishers,  engravers,  advertising  agents  and  their  employes — 
I.  W.  Carpenter,  G.  M.  Hitchcock,  A.  M.  Comstock. 

Judges,  lawyers,  court  and  public  officials  and  their  employes — C.  C. 
Belden,  chairman;  C.  H.  Klopp,  W.  J.  Connell,  R.  W.  Richardson. 

Physicians,  dentists  and  their  employes — J.  H.  Evans,  chairman;  Dr. 
E.  W.  Lee,  Dr.  W.  H.  Hanchett,  Dr.  C.  E.  Smith. 

Livery  and  boarding  stables,  dairymen  and  their  employes — Jacob  E. 
Markel,  chairman;  H.  K.  Burkett,  L.  Littlefield. 

Fire  and  police  department — Alfred  Millard,  chairman;  W.  C.  Bullard, 
Frank  B.  Johnson. 

Teachers,  musicians  and  artists — G.  H.  Payne,  chairman;  Clement  Chase, 
C.  G.  Pearse,  J.  H.  Mclntosh. 

Fire  and  life  insurance  companies,  agents  and  their  employes — G.  H. 
Payne,  chairman;  John  Steele,  W.  H.  Alexander. 

Architects,  civil  engineers  and  contractors — John  H.  Harte,  chairman; 
A.  J.  Vierling,  W.  S.  Wedge. 

Laundrymen  and  barbers — M.  Collins,  chairman,  Fred  Buelow,  L.  W. 
Pains,  John  A.  Johnson. 

Packing  houses,  stock  yards  and  their  employes — W.  A.  Paxton,  chair- 
man; W.  N.  Babcock,  E.  A.  Cudahy,  A.  C.  Foster,  T.  W.  Taliaferro,  Walter 
Woods. 

Organized  labor  and  trades  unions — H.  A.  Easton,  Machinists'  Union; 
Robert  M.  Kenna,  Carpenters'  Union;  T.  F.  Sturgis,  Typographical  Union; 
Julius  Meyer,  Musicians'  Union;  B.  P.  Flood,  Pressmen's  Union. 


Organisation  and  Reorganisation 


289 


South  Omaha — T.  H.  Ensor,  Mayor,  T.  J.  O'Neill,  David  Anderson. 

Council  Bluffs — Lucius  Wells,  chairman;  Geo.  F.  Wright,  C.  R.  Hannan, 
Wm.  Moore,  E.  W.  Hart,  J.  A.  Patten,  N.  P.  Dodge,  Thos.  Officer,  W.  D. 
Hardin,  Geo.  Carson,  Mayor ;  Clarence  Judson. 

Letter  carriers,  postoffice  employes  and  railway  postal  clerks — A.  H. 
Fuller,  Geo.  J.  Kleffner,  Ernest  Beale  Brady. 

At  a  directors'  meeting  held  September  12,  1896,  a  report  was  received 
showing  that  $320,000  had  been  subscribed  and  that  $40,000  additional  was 
assured.  The  articles  of  incorporation  provided  that  when  $300,000  had  been 
subscribed  a  board  of  not  less  than  fifty  directors  should  be  elected.  In  com- 
pliance with  that  proviso  a  call  was  issued  for  a  meeting  of  stockholders  for 
October  I,  1896,  which  action,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  heavy  stockholders, 
was  later  rescinded  and  a  new  call  issued  for  December  i,  instead. 


REORGANIZATION 

At  a  stockholders'  meeting  December  i,  1896,  called  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  a  board  of  fifty  directors,  an  election  was  had  resulting  in  the  fol- 
lowing persons  receiving  a  majority  of  all  votes  cast,  whereupon  they  were 
declared  duly  elected  as  directors  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International 
Exposition  Company: 


1.  Manderson,  Charles  F. 

2.  Murphy,  Frank 

3.  -Millard,  J.  H. 

4.  Lindsey,  Z.  T. 

5.  Kilpatrick,  Thos. 

6.  Bruce,  E.  E. 

7.  Thompson,  H.  A. 

8.  Wilhelm,  C.  M. 

9.  Wells,  Lucius 

10.  Holdrege,  G.  W. 

11.  Rosewater,  Edward 

12.  Wilcox,  R.  S. 

13.  Creighton,  John  A. 

14.  Paxton,  W.  A.,  Sr. 

15.  Babcock,  W.  H. 

16.  Evans,  J.  H. 

17.  Bidwell,  Geo.  F. 


18.  Dickinson,  Edw. 

19.  Noyes,  A.  H. 

20.  Hoctor,  Thomas 

21.  Smith,  A.  C. 

22.  Metz,  Charles 

23.  Wattles,  G.  W. 

24.  Brandeis,  J.  L. 

25.  Weller,  C.  F. 

26.  Smith,  Dudley 

27.  Carpenter,  I.  W. 

28.  Markel,  J.  E. 

29.  Kimball,  T.  L. 

30.  Kirkendall,  F.  P. 

31.  Yost,  C.  E. 

32.  Hitchcock.  G.  M. 

33.  Kountze,  Herman 


34.  Payne,  G.  H. 

35.  Korty,  L.  H. 

36.  Wakefield,  John  A. 

37.  Reed,  A.  L. 

38.  Hussie,  John  H. 

39.  Price,  E.  C. 

40.  Jardine,  Walter 

41.  Lyman,  C.  W. 

42.  Montgomery,  C.  S. 

43.  Saunders,  Alvin 

44.  Brown,  J.  J. 

45.  Johnson,  John  A. 

46.  Webster,  John  L. 

47.  Hibbard,  F.  B. 

48.  Lee,  Dr.  E.  W. 

49.  Wharton,  J.  C. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  held  on  December  8,  1898,  Fred 
M.  Youngs,  representative  of  organized  labor,  was  elected  to  fill  the  existing 
vacancy  on  the  Board. 

At  this  meeting  it  was  resolved  that  no  director  should  receive  compensa- 
tion for  services  performed  in  any  way  for  the  corporation. 


290  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

December  16,  1896,  the  committee  on  organization  tendered  its  report, 
which  was  acted  upon  immediately,  resulting  in  the  election  of  the  following 
officers:  President,  G.  W.  Wattles;  Vice-President,  Alvin  Saunders;  Secre- 
tary, John  A.  Wakefield;  Treasurer,  Herman  Kountze;  General  Counsel,  Car- 
roll S.  Montgomery. 

EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE 

Department  of  Ways  and  Means,  Z.  T.  Lindsey ;  Department  of  Publicity, 
Edward  Rosewater;  Department  of  Promotion,  G.  M.  Hitchcock;  Depart- 
ment of  Exhibits,  E.  E.  Bruce;  Department  of  Concessions  and  Privileges, 
A.  L.  Reed;  Department  of  Grounds  and  Buildings,  F.  P.  Kirkendall; 
Department  of  Transportation,  W.  N.  Babcock. 

Allan  T.  Rector  was  elected  as  director,  vice  John  A.  Wakefield,  resigned. 

Pursuant  to  a  provision  in  the  articles  of  incorporation,  that  there 
should  be  a  vice-president  appointed  for  each  State  and  territory  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  the  following  were  so  appointed : 

Arkansas — Hon.  W.  G.  Vincenheller,  Little  Rock. 

California — Hon.  Geo.  W.  Parsons,  Los  Angeles. 

Colorado — Hon.  Edward  F.  Bishop,  Denver. 

Idaho — Hon.  B.  P.  Shawhan,  Payette. 

Illinois — Hon.  R.  Hall  McCormick,  Chicago. 

Iowa — Hon.  Geo.  F.  Wright,  Council  Bluffs. 

Kansas — Hon.  C.  A.  Fellows,  Topeka. 

Louisiana — Hon.   C.  Harrison   Parker,  New  Orleans. 

Minnesota — Hon.  Frank  H.  Peavey,  Minneapolis. 

Missouri — Hon.  John  Doniphan,  St.  Joseph. 

Montana — Hon.  W.  H.  Sutherlin,  White  Sulphur  Springs. 

Nebraska— Hon.  Wm.  Neville,  North  Platte. 

Nevada — Hon.  H.  B.  Maxson,  Reno. 

North  Dakota — Hon.  C.  A.  Lounsberry,  Fargo 

Oregon — Hon.  B.  S.  Cook,  Salem. 

South  Dakota— Hon.  Thomas  H.  Wells,  Hot  Springs. 

Texas— Hon.  E.  J.  T.  Johnson,  Dallas. 

Utah— Hon.  Lewis  W.  Shurtliff,  Ogden  City. 

Washington — Hon.  Geo.  W.  Thompson,  Tacoma. 

Wyoming — Hon.  Frank  P.  Graves,  Laramie. 

Alaska — Hon.  James  Sheakley,  Sitka. 

Arizona — Hon.  Charles  R.  Drake,  Tucson. 

New  Mexico — Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  Santa  Fe. 

Oklahoma— Hon.  Eugene  Wallace,  Oklahoma  City. 

The  management,  under  the  re-organization  effected  as  outlined  in  the 
foregoing,  continued  until  July  9,  1897,  when  the  resignation  of  G.  M.  Hitch- 
cock as  manager  of  the  Department  of  Promotion  resulted  in  a  consolidation 
of  the  departments  of  Publicity  and  Promotion,  and  thereafter  they  were 
operated  as  a  single  department  under  the  management  of  Edward  Rosewater. 


Organisation  and  Reorganization 


291 


With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  changes  in  official  titles  and  the  election 
of  Thomas  Hoctor  as  a  director  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  demise  of 
Dan'l  Farrell,  Jr.,  the  affairs  of  the  Exposition  Company  were  conducted  by 
the  managers  and  officers  of  the  six  departments  created,  aided  by  superin- 
tendents who  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  various  bureaus  attached  to  said 
departments,  until,  upon  June  30,  1902,  the  business  of  the  company  having 
been  closed  up,  on  motion  duly  made  and  carried  at  a  directors'  meeting  then 
held,  the  corporation  was  dissolved. 


Administration   Arch 


chronicle  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International 
Exposition,  if  it  be  faithful  to  the  subject,  must 
necessarily  reflect  the  loyalty,  capacity  and  strength 
of  the  people  of  Omaha.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  treat  of 
the  growth  and  completion  of  the  project  without  constant 
reference,  direct  or  implied,  to  the  unexampled  labors  and 
triumphs  achieved  by  Omaha's  men  and  women.  Every 
chapter,  in  a  degree,  must  measure  some  element  of  the  city's 
strength  because  the  completed  Exposition  was  largely  created 
by  Omaha  brain  and  brawn;  yet  it  is  thought  to  be  proper  and  fitting 
to  devote  one  chapter  to  a  somewhat  particular  reference  to  the  part 
played  by  Omaha  in  the  great  undertaking.  The  genius  of  her  men  of 
affairs  proved  to  be  equal  to  the  taking  up  of  a  great  work  upon 
lines  of  action  entirely  original,  and  to  the  finishing  of  an  Herculean  task, 
u  scoring  a  brilliant  success  in  the  face  of  difficulties,  the  like  of  which 
never  confronted  the  builders  of  any  other  exposition.  The  plain  facts  of 
solid  achievement  may  be  recorded  without  vainglorious  boasting^  and  yet 
the  successes  attained  in  some  particulars  were  so  extraordinary  as  to  make 
difficult  their  recital  without  laying  the  chronicler  liable  to  the  charge  of 
exaggeration. 

The  success  of  every  American  Exposition  has  depended  upon  the  energy 
and  capacity  of  the  men  of  the  city  wherein  it  was  located.  Some  of  the 
expositions  failed  largely  because  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  cities  projecting 
them.  The  simple  fact  that  Omaha  was  strong  enough  to  create  a  great 
Exposition,  and  carry  it  to  triumphant  success,  is  a  high  encomium  sufficient 
within  itself  to  raise  the  city  and  its  people  in  the  estimation  of  the  best  men 
of  the  country.  Perhaps  it  is  true  that  some  of  the  men  who  assumed  the 
heavy  burdens  incident  to  the  work  of  creating  the  Exposition,  did  not  at 


294 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


first  fully  realize  the  magnitude 
of  the  task ;  nor  could  they  have 
foretold  the  outbreak  of  war 
with  a  foreign  power  at  a  time 
when  the  fate  of  the  Exposition 
hung  in  the  balance.  However, 
they  knew  that  a  colossal  enter- 
prise was  being  projected,  call- 
ing for  greater  effort  than 
Omaha  men  had  ever  been 
called  upon  to  put  forth,  and 
having  put  their  hands  to  the 
plough,  that  typical  western 
pluck  and  energy,  characteristic 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  region, 
led  them  on  to  brilliant  achieve- 
ment and  unparalleled  success. 
As  the  years  roll  on,  bringing 
to  the  mind's  eye  a  truer  per- 
spective of  the  completed  Expo- 
sition and  the  immense  task 
involved  in  its  building,  the 
results  attained  seem  to  be 
more  striking  in  their  magni- 
tude than  they  ever  did  before. 
From  the  inception  of  the  project  down  to  the  end  of  the  third  month 
of  the  Exposition  season,  the  paramount  problem  was  that  of  finance.  Omaha's 
best  citizenship  addressed  itself  to  the  task  of  solving  this  problem.  At  a 
meeting  held  on  January  18,  1896,  to  consider  a  tentative  draft  of  articles  of 
incorporation,  voluntary  subscriptions  amounting  to  $10,650  were  readily 
made  by  men  who  were  quick  to  see  the  prospective  benefits  of  a  creditable 
Exposition.  This  chronicle  would  be  incomplete  without  reference  to  the 
first  committee  appointed  for  soliciting  stock.  This  action  was  taken  at  a 
citizens'  meeting  January  18,  1896,  the  committee  being  composed  of  Messrs. 
Z.  T.  Lindsey,  W.  R.  Bennett,  Charles  Metz,  I.  W.  Carpenter  and  C  C. 
Belden.  The  committee  at  once  asked  for  subscriptions,  the  response  being 
hearty.  Out  of  the  50  or  more  citizens  attending  the  meeting  the  following 
gave  $500  each :  Edward  Rosewater,  W.  J.  Council,  J.  H.  Evans,  Dan  Far- 
rell,  Jr.,  Lee-Clark-Andreesen  Company,  W.  R.  Bennett  Company,  J.  E. 
Markel  &  Son,  Thompson.  Belden  £  Company.  William  Krug,  Oscar  J.  Pick- 


City  Hall,  Omaha 


W hat  Omaha  Did 


295 


ard,  Metz  Bros.,  Frank  B.  Hibbard,  Dudley  Smith,  Kelley,  Stiger  &  Company. 
One  man,  John  A.  Weaver,  pledged  $400,  and  Ashton  Clemens  and  G.  S. 
Ambler  pledged  $300  each.  Z.  T.  Lindsey  and  Lyman  Richardson  gave  $250 
and  C.  S.  Montgomery  and  L.  H.  Bradley  gave  $200  each.  The  following 
pledged  $100  each:  C.  S.  Hayward,  O.  C.  Holmes,  W.  C.  Bullard,  Helin  & 
Thompson,  Johnson  Bros.,  Fisher  &  Lawrie,  G.  W.  Wattles,  John  A.  Wake- 
field,  John  E.  Utt,  J.  J.  Gibson,  Euclid  Martin,  M.  H.  DeLong,  Geo.  N.  Hicks, 
W.  H.  Roberson,  Robt.  W.  Richardson  and  Isaac  W.  Carpenter.  Three  men 
pledged  $50  each:  I.  E.  Burdick,  G.  A.  Rathbun  and  George  A.  Payne; 
total,  $10,650. 

Thus  did  public-spirited  men  of  Omaha  give  to  the  Exposition  project 
its  first  great  impulse.  Later  on  as  plans  were  further  discussed  and  developed 
the  projectors  decided  that  Omaha  must  raise  by  popular  subscription  $300,000 
in  order  to  put  the  enterprise  upon  a  solid  foundation.  Pursuant  to  this  plan 
of  campaign  the  Board  of  Directors  met  June  19,  1896,  and  issued  invita- 
tions to  a  number  of  citizens  to  serve  as  a  bureau  of  finance  of  the  Exposi- 
tion. The  meeting  was  well  attended,  adopting  a  resolution  recommending 
that  the  sum  of  $500,000  be  raised  by  stock  subscriptions,  and  naming  a 
permanent  committee  of  finance  comprising  24  men,  every  one  of  whom  had 
done  his  part  in  the  work  of  upbuilding  Omaha. 

Those  who  can  readily  recall  the  stressful  condition  of  trade  and  finance 
in  1896,  and  the  consequent  impairment  of  property  values,  will  not  fail  to 
appreciate  the  difficulties  with  which  these  courageous  projectors  had  to  con- 
tend. Today  the  raising  of  half  a  million  dollars  for  an  object  equally  laud- 
able would  present  a  task  comparatively  easy,  but  in  those  days  the  promo- 
ters met  with  many  obstacles,  at  times  seemingly  insuperable.  No  wonder 
there  were  men  of  prominence  who  said  the  money  could  not  be  raised;  they 
honestly  believed  that  the  people  of  Omaha  could  not  produce  the  requisite 
amount  of  cash  within  the  prescribed  limit  of  time,  because  of  the  effects  of 


A  Glimpse  of  Omaha 


29(J  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

drouth  and  panic.  But  the  stout-hearted  men  who  had  entered  the  lists  to 
win  turned  deaf  ears  to  the  plaints  of  the  croakers  and  proceeded  vigorously 
with  the  campaign  for  stock  subscriptions.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  held  September  12,  1896,  the  soliciting  committee  reported  that 
$320,000  had  been  subscribed  with  $40,000  additional  assured.  On  October 
9  it  was  reported  that  6,124  persons  had  subscribed  $343,080.  The  can- 
vass proceeded  with  vigor.  The  money  was  largely  subscribed  by  residents 
or  corporations  directly  interested  in  Omaha.  It  was  given  from  the  purses 
of  the  poor  as  well  as  from  the  coffers  of  the  rich.  On  November  27,  1896, 
the  directors  were  notified  that  the  Burlington  Railway  Company  had  donated 
$30,000.  The  announcement  was  received  with  cheers.  No  other  railroad 
company  had  up  to  that  time  donated  or  subscribed  to  the  Exposition  fund. 
Officials  of  all  the  roads  centering  in  Omaha  had  looked  askance  at  the  project, 
sharing  in  the  doubt  expressed  by  croakers  that  Omaha  had  strength  and 
ability  necessary  to  build  an  Exposition.  Their  attitude  had  become  a  matter 
of  grave  concern  to  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  to  the  directory. 
Gen.  Charles  F.  Manderson,  one  of  the  most  active  directors  and  general 
solicitor  of  the  Burlington  Railway,  was  importuned  to  lay  the  situation  before 
President  Perkins  (deceased),  who  then  resided  at  Burlington.  Enlisting 
the  aid  of  General  Manager  Holdrege,  it  was  decided  to  be  advisable  to  seek 
an  interview  with  Mr.  Perkins,  and  Messrs.  Manderson  and  Holdrege  took 
the  latter's  private  car  and  proceeded  to  Burlington.  When  Mr.  Perkins  thus 
learned  what  had  been  accomplished  by  the  people  of  Omaha  in  providing 
financial  support,  he  did  not  longer  hesitate  to  place  the  Burlington  system  on 
record  as  a  patron  of  the  Exposition.  He  authorized  Gen.  Manderson  to 
notify  the  Exposition  management  that  his  road  would  donate  $30,000  in 
promotion  of  the  great  enterprise.  The  grateful  appreciation  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  was  expressed  in  a  resolution  of  thanks  which  was  adopted  with 
hearty  cheers  and  ordered  to  be  forwarded  to  the  officials  of  the  road.  A 
clause  of  the  resolution  also  expressed  the  thanks  of  Omaha,  and  of  the 
Exposition  Company,  for  the  notification  that  the  Burlington  Company  would 
soon  begin  the  erection  of  a  new  passenger  station  at  Omaha. 

The  donation  of  the  Burlington  road  was  regarded  as  the  harbinger  of 
another  era  of  good  luck,  for  other  lines  having  large  interests  in  Omaha  were 
expected  each  to  donate  or  to  subscribe  an  equal  amount.  In  fact,  there  was 
little  doubt  that  all  the  roads  would  aid  the  enterprise.  Some  of  their  lawyers 
thought  the  companies  could  not  legally  hold  stock  of  the  Exposition  Com- 
pany. The  delay  was  attributed  to  failure  upon  the  part  of  the  railroad 
managers  to  reach  an  agreement,  not  only  as  to  the  amount,  but  they  debated 
the  question  (born  of  their  experience  with  other  expositions)  whether  to 


What  Omaha  Did  297 

donate  or  to  subscribe  to  the  fund  for  building  the  Exposition.  The  railroad 
officials  may  have  been  warranted  at  that  time  in  raising  the  query  whether 
possession  of  capital  stock  in  the  Omaha  Exposition  would  prove  to  be  an 
asset  or  a  liability.  So  the  Burlington's  donation  at  once  solved  the  problem 
and  set  the  pace.  It  came  at  a  most  opportune  time.  Through  the  active 
efforts  of  General  Manager  Geo.  F.  Bidwell  of  the  Northwestern  lines  west 
of  the  Missouri  River,  the  higher  officials  of  that  great  system  soon  matched 
the  Burlington's  donation.  As  a  director  of  the  Exposition  Company,  Mr. 
Bidwell  was  in  position  to  keep  President  Hughitt  posted  as  to  the  true  status 
of  Exposition  affairs.  The  Union  Pacific  System  donated  $25,000;  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  $15,000,  and  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul,  $10,000,  the 
latter  road  then  having  no  mileage  in  Nebraska  outside  of  Omaha.  The  Rock 
Island  system  subscribed  to  the  stock  of  the  Exposition  $20,000,  thus  express- 
ing faith  in  the  ultimate  success  of  the  enterprise.  That  faith  was  in  the 
end  rewarded  by  the  repayment  of  90  per  cent  of  the  subscription.  It  is  not  the 
province  of  the  historian  to  determine  the  relative  degree  of  credit  merited  by 
these  great  corporations  whose  officials  displayed  unusual  generosity  in  their 
treatment  of  the  Exposition.  The  local  public  utility  corporations  were  like- 
wise generous.  At  that  time  the  policy  of  the  Omaha  Street  Railway  Company 
as  well  as  that  of  the  Omaha  Gas  Company  was  dominated  by  the  late  Frank 
Murphy.  Each  of  these  companies  subscribed  $10,000  while  Mr.  Murphy  per- 
sonally subscribed  $5,000.  The  late  Herman  Kountze  subscribed  $10,000 
which  was  perhaps  the  largest  individual  subscription  to  the  building  fund. 
The  Union  Stock  Yards  Company  and  the  Nebraska  Telephone  Company,  con- 
trolled by  Omaha  men,  each  subscribed  $5,000,  as  did  the  Byron  Reed  Com- 
pany and  the  Chicago  Lumber  Company  of  Omaha.  The  New  York  Life 
Insurance  Company  and  the  late  Philip  D.  Armour,  having  large  interests 
in  Omaha,  each  subscribed  $5,000,  as  did  the  late  Edward  Rosewater,  one  of 
the  prime  movers  of  the  great  project.  This  completes  the  list  of  those  whose 
subscriptions  or  donations  ranged  from  $5,000  to  $30,000.  Without  this 
munificent  fund,  and  the  tremendous  moral  uplift  its  bestowal  gave  to  the 
Exposition  at  a  time  when  success  was  problematical,  it  is  perhaps  not  too  much 
to  say  that  the  project  would  have  collapsed.  At  the  time  the  money  was 
given  the  donors  were  by  common  consent  accorded  a  place  on  the  roll  of 
honor.  An  analysis  of  the  list  makes  apparent  the  fact  that  every  dollar  of  the 
$200,000  was  given  at  the  behest  of  Omaha  men  and  because  of  the  influence 
they  could  bring  to  bear.  It  is  the  best  illustration  ever  afforded  of  the  high 
rank  attained  by  Omaha  as  a  commercial  center.  The  campaign  waged  by 
these  and  other  influential  Omahans  in  enlisting  the  support  of  non-residents 
who  had  vested  interests  here,  afforded  material  for  a  highly  interesting 


What  Omaha  Did  299 

chapter  of  history,  which,  for  the  most  part,  must  remain  unwritten.  Many 
things  were  planned  and  done  quietly,  a  sense  of  good  taste  preventing  at 
the  time  a  public  statement  of  what  was  done.  Nearly  every  railroad  man 
in  Omaha  was  an  active  agent  in  work  for  the  promotion  of  the  enterprise. 
Leading  merchants  and  heavy  shippers  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel  and 
helped  to  make  a  showing  of  fact  upon  which  the  directorates  of  large  corpora- 
tions could  base  favorable  action.  Influential  citizens  made  frequent  trips  to 
New  York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  elsewhere  for  the  sole  purpose  of  induc- 
ing officials  of  insurance  companies,  railways,  packing  houses,  etc.,  to  make 
subscriptions  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  Exposition. 

Meantime,  the  activity  of  soliciting  committees  had  produced  remarkable 
results  by  appeals  to  all  classes  of  citizens.  Sub-committees  were  formed  and 
assigned  to  a  given  group  of  people,  confining  their  efforts  to  them  alone.  By 
this  systematic  work  the  canvass  was  thoroughly  made  and  the  one  com- 
mittee kept  out  of  the  territory  of  the  other.  The  zeal  and  efficiency  of  these 
committees  were  attested  by  the  large  amount  of  money  they  raised.  In  look- 
ing back  over  the  forces  contributing  to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  Exposition 
it  is  easy  to  see  the  tremendous  impetus  which  these  soliciting  committees 
imparted  to  the  work  of  building  the  Exposition.  Here  is  a  report  of  their 
gleanings : 

Architects,  civil  engineers  and  contractors $11,740 

Brewers,  liquor  dealers  and  saloons 24,410 

City  and  county  officers    2,520 

Capitalists,  real  estate,  bankers,  brokers  and  collection  agencies 49,600 

City   Fire   Department    2,200 

Hotels,  restaurants  and  boarding  houses   4,980 

Insurance  companies,  agents  and  employes 1 1,730 

Judges,  lawyers,  court  and  public  officials  19,630 

Laundrymen,  barbers  and  employes   6,190 

Letter  carriers  and  railway  postal  clerks 4,ooo 

Livery  and  boarding  stables  and  dairymen 4,810 

Jobbers,  manufacturers  and  employes 59,030 

Organized   labor    4,400 

Smelting  works  employes 1,560 

Physicians  and  dentists    5>O3O 

Printers,  publishers,  engravers  and  employes   14,210 

Pacific   Express   Co.   employes 1,210 

Railway  officers,  clerks  and  trainmen 12,605 

Retail    dealers    67,930 

Street  car  company  employes  12,560 

South  Omaha  and  Stock  Yards  District .« 19,120 

Transfer  lines,  expressmen  and  employes  2,510 

Teachers,  musicians  and  artists  6,960 

By  the  ist  of  December,  1896,  the  secretary  was  able  to  report  subscrip- 
tions and  donations  amounting  to  $350,000.  This  achievement  measures 


300 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


A  Part  of  Omaha's  Wholesale  District 

Omaha's  faith  in  the  enterprise  eighteen  months  prior  to  the  day  appointed  for 
the  opening  of  the  Exposition.  It  was  evidence  to  all  that  the  community  had 
awakened  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  Omaha  possessed  strength  enough 
to  build  and  complete  a  great  Exposition.  This  figure  expresses  in  dollars  and 
cents  the  magnificent  result  of  the  labors  performed  under  the  direction  of  the 
original  directory  of-  eleven  men  who  were  elected  at  a  citizens'  meeting  on 
January  18,  1896,  as  follows:  Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  Jacob  E.  Markel,  W.  R. 
Bennett,  John  H.  Evans,  Dudley  Smith,  Daniel  Farrell,  Jr.,  George  H.  Payne, 
Charles  Metz,  Isaac  W.  Carpenter,  Henry  A.  Thompson  and  Carroll  S.  Mont- 
gomery. The  first  meeting  of  this  board  was  held  January  20,  1896,  and  the 
following  officers  were  then  elected :  Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  President ;  Jacob 
E.  Markel,  Vice-President ;  John  A.  Wakefield,  Secretary. 

As  the  plan  and  scope  gradually  broadened,  the  project,  of  course, 
required  more  financial  support,  notwithstanding  the  generous  response  made 
by  the  people  to  the  call  of  the  officers  and  directors  under  the  original  organi- 
zation. Up  to  this  time  the  brunt  of  the  battle  had  been  borne  by  a  few  men, 
and  the  victory  they  achieved  entitled  them  to  more  credit  than  was  ever 
accorded  to  them.  Their  failure  was  predicted  by  a  few  men  who  later  jumped 
into  the  harness  and  pulled  faithfully  to  the  end.  For  more  than  a  year,  or 
until  the  date  of  reorganization,  December  16,  1896,  the  destiny  of  the  Expo- 
sition was  shaped  by  the  original  directory  of  eleven  men  and  the  officers  who 
executed  its  plans.  In  another  chapter  the  action  resulting  in  reorganization 
is  set  forth  in  detail. 

The  articles  of  association  were  amended  authorizing  an  enlarged  board 
of  fifty  directors.  The  business  of  the  company  having  groxvn  to  such  large 
proportions,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  divide  the  work  into  seven  depart- 
ments, two  of  which  were  later  consolidated.  The  managers  of  these  depart- 
ments constituted  the  executive  committee,  which  conducted  the  enterprise  up 
to  the  closing  day.  While  under  the  new  regime  responsibility  for  success  or 
failure  was  to  the  end  shared  by  the  board  of  fifty  directors  in  whom  was 
vested  ultimate  power  of  control,  yet  the  main  load  rested  heavily  upon  the 


What  Omaha  Did  301 

shoulders  of  the  men  comprising  the  executive  committee,  whose  members, 
acting  as  managers  together  with  the  President,  through  long,  weary  months 
gave  nearly  all  of  their  time  and  attention  to  the  promotion  of  the  project. 
During  the  last  year  of  the  work  the  committee  held  daily  sessions,  the 
President,  with  counsel  and  secretary,  being  in  constant  attendance.  On  the 
closing  day  of  the  Exposition,  in  his  address  summing  up  the  results  of  the 
Exposition,  President  Wattles  voiced  the  sentiment  of  the  whole  community 
when  he  said :  "To  these  managers,  who  have  served  without  compensation, 
this  community  owes  a  debt  that  can  never  be  paid;  and  while  it  is  usual  to 
give  the  commanding  general  credit  for  victory  in  a  great  battle,  in  many 
instances,  as  with  the  Exposition,  this  credit  is  equally  due  to  the  efficient 
services  of  his  assistants  and  to  the  common  soldiers,  which  includes  nearly 
every  representative  citizen  in  this  community — for  all  have  worked  with  one 
purpose  to  build  up  this  enterprise  and  bring  to  it  the  large  measure  of  success 
it  has  attained." 

It  would  hardly  be  profitable  to  rehearse  the  events  incident  to  recurring 
crises  in  the  progress  of  the  enterprise,  but  it  is  interesting  to  recall  one  episode 
of  the  winter  of  1897,  when  "huge  boulders  almost  choked  the  stream  of  cash," 
and  strong  men  among  the  projectors  came  to  the  rescue  with  their  financial 
credit  and  their  money.  One  of  the  contractors  of  a  large  building  in  course 
of  construction  had  waited  several  days  for  the  payment  of  money  due  him 
on  a  given  estimate,  and  became  noisily  importunate.  One  morning  he 
knocked  at  the  door  of  the  Executive  Committee  room  and  sent  in  word  that 
unless  his  estimate  of  $12,000  were  paid  within  thirty  minutes  he  would  stop 
work  on  the  building  and  publish  his  reasons  for  so  doing.  There  was  less 
than  $1,000  in  the  treasury.  The  threatened  action  of  the  contractor,  if  carried 
out,  would  have  wrecked  the  financial  credit  of  the  Exposition  Company. 
Such  a  calamity  was  averted  by  Chairman  Lindsey  and  President  Wattles, 
who  advanced  the  money  until  the  Exposition  treasury  could  be  replenished 
and  repayment  made.  In  another  crisis,  the  President,  managers  and  Secre- 
tary personally  endorsed  notes  and  raised  money  with  which  to  relieve  the 
situation. 

Conditions  having  gradually  improved,  the  outlook,  February  i,  1898, 
was  quite  favorable,  and  the  projectors  of  the  Exposition  felt  the  inspiration 
of  impending  success.  But  during  that  month  came  the  unexpected  breaking 
out  of  hostilities  with  Spain.  This  untoward  event  caused  many  prospective 
exhibitors  to  cancel  applications  for  space.  Newspapers  everywhere  subordi- 
nated all  matter  to  war  news  and  pictures;  men  became  dubious;  clouds,  low 
and  ominous,  hung  heavily  over  the  Exposition.  Some  of  the  directors 
advised  postponement  until  1899 — others  would  have  abandoned  the  project 


802 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Sixteenth  Street,  Looking  North 

entirely.  Only  a  few  men  stood  pat  and  urged  that  plans  be  proceeded  with. 
A  conference  was  called  by  the  President  of  members  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee and  the  more  steadfast  members  of  the  directory.  The  situation,  in 
all  its  bearings,  was  carefully  discussed.  The  proposal  to  abandon  the  project 
could  not  be  entertained,  for  the  reason  that  such  a  course  would  have  blasted 
the  reputation  of  Omaha  throughout  the  country;  on  the  other  hand,  post- 
ponement, it  was  thought,  would  inevitably  lead  to  failure  and  humiliation. 
The  consensus  of  opinion  was  that  Omaha  could  not  afford  to  avail  itself  of 
either  alternative,  and  therefore  it  was  decided  that  the  only  thing  to  do  was 
to  proceed  carefully  and  confidently,  with  a  determination  to  win  success 
despite  all  adverse  conditions.  Every  man  then  and  there  resolved  to  redouble 
his  energies;  measures  of  economy  were  adopted;  more  effective  work  was 
done  in  all  departments,  and  by  the  restoration  of  popular  confidence  ultimate 
success  was  assured.  The  war  cloud  precipitated  the  greatest  crisis  in  the 


What  Omaha  Did  303 

affairs  of  the  Exposition.  Nobody  could  then  foretell  the  duration  of  a  war 
with  Spain.  There  was  in  the  popular  mind  apprehension  that  the  naval 
strength  of  that  great  power  might  equal  that  of  the  United  States.  Some 
men  predicted  that  hostilities  would  last  a  year — very  few  thought  that  the 
war  could  be  ended  with  so  little  disturbance  of  industrial  and  trade  conditions 
as  happily  proved  to  be  the  case.  Omaha  men  responsible,  financially  and 
otherwise,  for  rapid  advancement  of  the  work  of  building  the  Exposition  were 
confronted,  in  the  face  of  the  Spanish- American  war,  with  a  problem  involving 
higher  consequences  than  any  other  grappled  with  in  the  earlier  years  of  the 
city's  history.  The  fate  of  the  Exposition,  involving  the  good  name  of  Omaha, 
hung  in  the  balance.  There  was  no  State  or  city  or  set  of  men  outside  of 
Omaha  that  could  be  appealed  to  for  aid.  A  great  emergency  had  to  be  met 
by  men  who  never  lost  faith  in  the  people  of  Omaha  and  their  ability  to 
overcome  all  difficulties.  Every  property  owner  in  Omaha  owes  to  these 
strong  and  loyal  men  a  lasting  debt  of  gratitude  for  upholding  the  financial 
credit  of  the  Exposition  Company  in  the  hour  of  peril.  Had  they  then 
abandoned  the  project  to  its  fate,  humiliating  failure  would  have  ensued,  the 
consequences  of  which  would  have  been  so  damaging  to  Omaha  in  the  eyes 
of  the  whole  country  that  recovery  could  not  have  been  expected  within  a 
generation. 

Doggedly  persevering  in  the  grand  work  which  lay  before  them,  the 
men  of  Omaha  accomplished  a  seemingly  impossible  task.  During  the  year 
1897,  most  of  the  money  was  paid  in  on  stock  subscriptions.  The  record 
shows  that  a  grand  total  of  $553,415.20  was  pledged  by  6,500  stockholders. 
After  the  requisite  sum  and  more  had  been  subscribed,  the  pessimists  pre- 
dicted that  a  large  share  of  it  would  prove  to  be  uncollectible,  not  because 
subscribers  did  not  intend  to  pay,  but  because  of  prevailing  hard  times.  That 
they  did  not  know  the  temper  of  the  men  of  Omaha  was  soon  demonstrated. 
The  report  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Department  gives  evidence  of  the  willing- 
ness and  ability  of  the  people  of  Omaha  to  pay  their  subscriptions  to  the 
capital  stock  of  the  Exposition. 

Incident  to  the  closing-day  exercises,  President  Wattles  made  an  address 
which  was  largely  devoted  to  a  summary  of  results.  He  told  his  hearers  that 
$454,979.24  had  been  up  to  that  time  paid  into  the  Exposition  treasury  on 
account  of  subscriptions  and  donations,  and  that,  together  with  the  earnings 
of  the  corporation,  the  grand  total  of  cash  receipts  up  to  that  time  from  all 
sources  was  $1,761.364.18.  Later  this  was  increased  to  $1,977,338.69.  The 
cash  in  the  treasury  amounted  to  $420,996.48,  and  after  paying  all  legitimate 
claims  there  would  remain  a  cash  balance  of  $356,011.46.  Much  of  this 
sum  was  used  in  reimbursing  stockholders.  In  this  connection  it  is  interest- 


304 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


ing  to  quote  a  statement  made  by  Secretary  Wakefield  by  way  of  summing 
up  results  accomplished :  "This  was  the  only  Exposition  in  America  promptly 
opening  its  gates  to  the  public  on  a  completed  show  on  the  day  and  hour 
originally  appointed;  the  first  to  open  free  from  mortgage  or  pledge  of  all  or 
some  of  its  gate  receipts;  the  first  to  make  money  each  and  every  month  of 
the  Exposition  season,  and  the  first  to  repay  to  its  stockholders  any  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  funds  advanced  by  them.  In  these  respects  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  &  International  Exposition  stands  without  a  rival." 


CONGRESSIONAL  RECOGNITION 

A  recital  of  the  chief  events  of  the  campaign  for  congressional  recognition 
makes  evident  the  fact  that  Omaha  men  initiated  and  pushed  it  to  consumma- 
tion. From  the  inception  of  the  project  leading  spirits  realized  the  very  great 
importance  of  getting  Congress  to  endorse  the  plans  and  to  make  an  appro- 
priation to  cover  cost  of  a  Government  building  and  exhibit.  The  first  public 
meeting  to  consider  the  subject  of  holding  an  Exposition,  pursuant  to  a  reso- 
lution adopted  by  the  Trans-Mississippi  Congress,  was  held  in  the  rooms  of 
the  Commercial  Club  on  December  22,  1895,  Charles  F.  Weller,  presiding; 
and  at  an  adjourned  meeting  held  December  27,  it  was  "unanimously  decided 
that  the  project  of  an  Exposition  should  be  carried  out."  It  is  a  significant 
fact  that  Senator  William  V.  Allen  introduced  in  the  United  States  Senate,  on 


Frank  E.  Moores,  Mayor  of  Omaha 


Hon.  David  H.  Mercer 


January  3,  1896,  only  a  week  later,  a  bill  to  "authorize  and  encourage  the  hold- 
ing of  a  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  at  the  city  of  Omaha, 
in  the  year  1898,  and  making  an  appropriation  therefor."  The  bill  was 
referred  to  a  select  committee  on  International  Expositions,  of  which  Senator 


W hat  Omaha  Did 


305 


Senator  William  V.  Allen 


Senator  John  M.  Thurston 


Senator  William  P.   Frye 


John  M.  Thurston  was  chairman.  On  April  10,  the  Senate  debated,  amended 
and  passed  the  bill.  Three  days  later  the  Senate  bill  was  by  the  House 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  and  on  June  6,  1896,  it  was 
amended  in  the  House  and  passed.  The  Senate  concurring,  the  bill  was  on 
the  same  day  approved  by  the  President.  On  February  17,  Congressman 
David  H.  Mercer,  of  Omaha,  introduced  a  bill  in  the  House  asking  for  an 
appropriation  of  $500,000,  but  circumstances  led  him  and  others  to  think  that 
it  would  be  wise  to  push  the  Senate  bill,  which  he  did. 

Leaders  in  both  houses  at  first  looked  with  disfavor  upon  these  bills.  The 
bill  which  Congressman  Mercer  introduced  seemed  sure  of  death  by  strangu- 
lation. Representative  Dingley,  while  not  strongly  opposing  it,  thought  that 
properly  a  provision  should  be  attached  requiring  the  Exposition  to  raise  the 
sum  of  $500,000  before  the  national  act  should  become  operative.  The  direc- 
tors of  the  Exposition  considered  this  suggestion  and  decided  that  this  was, 
perhaps,  a  good  proviso,  for  if  the  Government  passed  the  bill,  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  necessary  to  raise  such  an  amount  to  insure  a  successful  Exposition, 
and  the  fact  that  the  Government  act  required  it,  might  help  in  the  securing 
of  it.  As  a  result  the  directors  advised  Senators  Allen  and  Thurston  and 
Representative  Mercer  that  they  favored  the  idea,  but  that  the  amount  to  be 
raised  by  the  Exposition  should  not  properly  be  much,  if  any,  greater  than 
the  Government's  appropriation.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  the  figure  placed 
in  the  bill  for  Government  appropriation  should  be  $250,000,  and  that  the 
Exposition  be  required  to  secure  bona  fide  subscriptions  of  undoubted  character, 
in  the  sum  of  $250,000,  before  the  Government  act  should  become  opera- 
tive. On  April  10,  1896,  Senators  Allen  and  Thurston  decided  to  push  the 
Senate  bill,  as  it  was  becoming  clear  that  favorable  action  by  the  Ways  and 


306  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Means  Committee  of  the  House  on  Mr.  Mercer's  bill  could  not  be  counted  upon 
soon  enough  to  secure  passage  at  that  session  of  Congress.  They  had  the 
bill  called  up,  and  after  amending  it,  on  demand  of  Senator  Allison,  to  carry 
$200,000  instead  of  $250,000  as  the  bill  read,  it  was  passed  by  the  Senate  that 
day.  Senator  Allison  stated  that  the  appropriation  for  Atlanta,  Ga.,  was  for 
but  $200,000  and  he  thought  that  sum  would  be  sufficient  for  and  satisfactory 
to  Omaha.  The  bill  went  to  the  House  at  once  and  Mr.  Mercer  soon  discov- 
ered that  he  would  have  to  fight  to  secure  its  passage.  On  the  request  of  the 
directors  of  the  Exposition,  President  Wattles  went  to  Washington  to 
endeavor  to  assist,  as  he  might,  in  passage  of  the  bill.  A  newspaper  account  of 
his  visit  says  that  within  fifteen  minutes  of  his  arrival  at  Washington,  Presi- 
dent Wattles  had  a  conference  with  Congressman  Mercer,  when  it  was 
determined  to  ask  the  Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  to  call  a 
special  meeting  of  his  committee  and  to  permit  Messrs.  Wattles  and  Mercer 
to  address  it,  stating  the  exact  situation  of  affairs  relating  to  the  Exposition. 
On  April  30,  1896,  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  of  the  House  made  a 
favorable  report  on  the  Exposition  bill,  tacking  on  the  requirement  that  the 
Exposition  secure  $250,000  in  subscriptions  in  order  to  make  valid  the  Con- 
gressional appropriation.  President  Wattles  returned  from  Washington  and 
reported  the  status  of  the  House  and  Senate  bills.  The  directors,  feeling 
again  the  need  of  a  special  representative  in  Washington  in  order  to  aid  Con- 
gressman Mercer  in  any  additional  way  possible,  requested  ex-Senator  Chas. 
F.  Manderson  and  Hon.  Edward  Rosewater  to  go  to  Washington.  Mr.  Rose- 
water  started  at  once  on  May  7,  1896;  Gen.  Manderson  was  unable  to  leave 
the  city  at  the  time. 

On  May  10,  Mr.  Rosewater,  in  Washington,  met  J.  H.  Manley,  of  Maine, 
and  interested  him  in  the  Exposition  bill.  Mr.  Manley  told  him  that  he 
would  do  everything  in  his  power  to  secure  Speaker  Reed's  consent  to  bring 
up  the  bill  and  place  it  on  its  passage.  William  Pitt  Kellogg,  of  Louisiana, 
told  Mr.  Rosewater  that  he  would  try  to  induce  Speaker  Reed  to  favor  the 
Exposition  measure  and  have  it  acted  upon  at  an  early  date.  Next  day  Mr. 
Rosewater,  accompanied  by  Senator  Gear,  of  Iowa,  discussed  with  Speaker 
Reed,  of  Maine,  the  features  of  the  Exposition  bill  appropriating  money  for  a 
building  and  exhibit  at  Omaha,  pointing  out  the  magnitude  and  scope  of 
the  Exposition  and  the  interest  felt  in  it  throughout  the  West.  Speaker  Reed 
was  assured  that  the  people  all  favored  the  measure,  and  he  reluctantly  prom- 
ised that  the  bill  should  receive  consideration.  Passage  of  the  bill  by  Con- 
gress was  now  felt  to  be  assured,  but  vexatious  obstacles  prevented  and  annoy- 
ing delays  ensued,  and  as  the  session  was  fast  drawing  toward  its  close,  the 
fear  of  failure  was  strong,  and  great  anxiety  was  felt  over  the  situation.  It 


What  Omaha  Did  307 

was  expected  that  the  bill  would  be  called  up  for  passage  early  in  May,  and 
again  at  several  later  dates  in  May.  One  obstacle  after  another  intervened 
and  the  anxiety  grew  greater,  notwithstanding  the  able  assistance  of  Senators 
Allison  and  Gear  of  Iowa,  Senators  Allen  and  Thurston  of  Nebraska — of 
practically  the  whole  Iowa  and  Nebraska  delegations  and  their  friends.  A 
demand  upon  the  Speaker  for  a  set  day  met  with  no  response.  All  that  could 
be  done  was  to  watch  and  wait. 

On  June  5  Mr.  Mercer  found  his  opportunity.  The  request  for  consent 
to  place  the  bill  on  its  passage  was  made  only  to  be  met  by  objection  on  the 
part  of  Omar  M.  Kem,  sent  to  the  House  of  Congress  to  represent  the  Sixth 
Congressional  District  of  Nebraska.  In  this  case,  however,  he  misrepresented 
his  constituents,  as  the  rain  of  denunciatory  telegrams  from  his  district  fully 
attested;  but,  stubborn  to  the  last,  he  kept  up  his  opposition  and  did  what  he 
could  to  obstruct  the  passage  of  the  bill.  On  June  9,  at  6 130  p.  m.,  Mr.  Mercer 
again  secured  recognition  by  the  Speaker,  and  again  he  was  doomed  to  dis- 
appointment, for  Mr.  Bailey,  of  Texas,  objected  (he  said  from  conscientious 
motives)  to  unanimous  consent  to  a  consideration  of  the  bill.  It  now  looked 
like  certain  defeat,  as  Congress  was  scheduled  to  adjourn  the  following  day; 
but  on  June  10  recognition  was  again  secured,  and,  Mr.  Kem  having  left  for 
home  and  Mr.  Bailey  being  absent  at  luncheon,  unanimous  consent  was 
obtained;  the  bill  passed;  hurried  over  to  the  Senate  (which  body  Senator 
Allen  had  held  in  session  purposely) ;  the  amended  bill  approved  by  the 
Senate;  finally  engrossed  and  taken  at  once  by  Mr.  Mercer  to  President  Cleve- 
land, who  signed  it. 

Speaker  Thomas  B.  Reed  stated  that  no  bill  that  he  knew  of  had  been  so 
well  exploited  as  this  one;  that  the  bombardment  of  Congress  was  not  only 
courteous  and  of  good  and  convincing  argument,  but  that  it  had  been  continu- 
ous— never  letting  up  from  the  introduction  to  the  final  passage  of  the  bill 
This  was  due  to  the  ceaseless  efforts  of  the  men  of  Omaha,  and  yet  without 
the  untiring  and  well-directed  efforts  of  Hon.  David  H.  Mercer,  aided  and 
assisted  though  he  was  by  many  others,  the  Congressional  bill  would  not 
have  passed  in  time  to  be  of  benefit  to  the  Exposition. 

The  news  of  the  passage  of  the  Congressional  bill  when  received  at 
Omaha  relieved  the  tension  of  anxiety,  and  confidence  in  ultimate  success  pre- 
vailed generally.  Congressional  recognition  was  effected  two  years  in  advance 
of  the  date  set  for  opening  the  Exposition.  The  achievement  was  one  of 
incalculable  benefit  to  the  enterprise.  It  was  evidence  to  members  of  legisla- 
tures of  Western  States  that  the  Omaha  Exposition  would  rank  with  other 
similar  enterprises,  having  received  the  sanction  of  Congress;  it  was  evidence 
to  prospective  exhibitors  that  the  Exposition  would  attain  a  high  plane  of 
excellence  and  that  they  could  not  afford  to  ignore  it;  and  it  was  notice  to  the 


308  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

people  all  over  the  country  that  Omaha  was  producing  an  Exposition  well 
worthy  of  the  patronage  of  sight-seers.  Frequently  men  remarked  that  Con- 
gressional recognition  was  the  turning  point  in  the  promotive  work,  which, 
more  than  any  other  one  thing,  inspired  popular  confidence  and  insured  suc- 
cess. This  may  have  been  true;  but  those  who  hold  this  view  will  not  over- 
look the  fact  that  the  federal  appropriation  was  predicated  upon  the  official 
assurance  that  the  promoters  of  the  Exposition  had  raised  a  very  large  cash 
fund,  without  which  Government  aid  would  not  have  been  extended.  More- 
over, the  record  proves  conclusively  that  both  Congressional  recognition  and 
the  raising  of  the  subscription  fund  were  due  to  the  forethought,  energy  and 
indomitable  courage  of  Omaha's  best  citizens,  who  thus  earned  and  received 
the  larger  share  of  credit  in  the  popular  mind  for  the  brilliant  achievement 
attested  by  the  completed  Exposition. 

Leading  men  in  the  Omaha  Commercial  Club  regarded  the  action  of 
Congress  as  one  of  the  highest  importance.  They  suggested  and  arranged 
for  a  grand  civic  demonstration  to  celebrate  the  event,  which  occurred  Friday 
evening,  June  26,  1896.  The  popular  support  accorded  to  this  demonstration 
makes  evident  the  fact  that  the  people  were  not  only  aware  of  the  true  signifi- 
cance of  Congressional  action,  but  that  they  fully  appreciated  the  services  ren- 
dered by  the  Omaha  men  whose  indefatigable  labors  had  won  the  confidence 
and  support  of  members  of  Congress.  A  procession  several  miles  in  length, 
composed  of  many  civic  and  military  organizations,  was  the  chief  feature  of 
the  day's  program.  There  was  booming  of  cannon,  music  by  many  bands  and 
in  the  evening  a  display  of  fireworks.  It  seemed  that  all  the  people  of  Omaha 
and  neighboring  cities  had  turned  out  to  take  part  in  or  to  witness  the  celebra- 
tion. The  procession  started  at  8  p.  m.,  commanded  by  Major  Robert  S. 
Wilcox,  proceeding  to  Jefferson  Square,  where  it  disbanded.  On  a  raised  plat- 
form prominent  men  made  brief  addresses.  On  request  of  Charles  F.  Weller, 
President  of  the  Commercial  Club,  President  G.  W.  Wattles,  of  the  Exposition, 
presided.  With  a  few  complimentary  words  he  introduced  Governor  Silas  A. 
Holcomb,  who  was  greeted  with  applause  and  spoke  briefly  in  congratulation. 
When  Congressman  David  H.  Mercer  arose  to  speak  the  people  cheered  long 
and  loud,  attesting  their  appreciation  of  his  tireless  and  successful  efforts  to 
secure  Congressional  recognition.  The  speaker  complimented  the  managers 
and  officers  of  the  Exposition  and  others  who  ably  assisted  in  behalf  of  the 
Congressional  bill.  In  conclusion  he  presented  to  President  Wattles  the  pen 
with  which  President  Cleveland  signed  the  Exposition  bill.  Senator  William  V. 
Allen  was  cheered  vociferously  when  he  arose  to  speak.  His  remarks  were 
felicitous  and  he  specially  complimented  Omaha  men  for  what  they  had  done 
in  promoting  the  Exposition.  Many  letters  and  telegrams  of  regret  were 
read.  They  came  from  governors  and  senators  of  neighboring  States,  con- 


What  Omaha  Did  309 

gressmen  and  other  men  of  prominence  of  Iowa,  South  Dakota,  Wyoming  and 
Nebraska.  Among  them  was  a  letter  from  Senator  John  M.  Thurston.  After 
a  brief  address  by  former  Governor  Robert  W.  Furnas,  of  Brownville,  the 
orator  of  the  occasion,  John  N.  Baldwin,  of  Council  Bluffs,  was  introduced. 
He  delivered  an  eloquent  address,  which  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm. 
Gen.  Charles  F.  Manderson  spoke  next,  addressing  complimentary  remarks  to 
those  who  had  been  instrumental  in  passing  the  bill,  referring  not  only  to  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  but  to  officers  of  the  Exposition  and  also  to  the  men  of 
Omaha  who  had  assisted.  J.  H.  Van  Dusen  was  introduced.  He  gave  assur- 
ance of  South  Omaha's  great  interest  in  the  Exposition.  Hon.  John  Doniphan, 
Vice-President  for  Missouri,  was  the  last  speaker.  The  great  audience 
adjourned  with  "three  ringing  cheers  and  a  tiger"  for  the  Exposition  and  its 
promoters  in  Omaha  and  in  Congress. 

The  act  of  Congress  gave  the  project  great  impetus  all  along  the  line. 
In  view  of  the  enthusiasm  engendered,  the  management  determined  that  the 
scope  of  the  work  should  be  broadened  and,  in  furtherance  of  this  object,  to 
appeal  to  the  business  men  of  Omaha  for  earnest  co-operation.  Accordingly, 
a  meeting  of  merchants  and  citizens  was  called  for  June  18,  1896,  at  the  Com- 
mercial Club  rooms.  The  rooms  were  packed  with  enthusiastic  citizens. 
Cheering  speeches  were  made,  and  a  resolution  was  adopted  pledging  hearty 
support  of  the  business  men  and  capitalists  of  Omaha  to  the  active  promoters 
of  the  Exposition.  The  expressions  of  sentiment  heard  at  this  meeting  were 
representative  of  popular  opinion  throughout  the  city.  Omaha  was  stirred 
from  center  to  circumference  by  the  success  of  the  undertaking  up  to  that  time 
and  the  people  were  determined  to  lend  aid  in  every  possible  way.  There  had 
never  been  a  more  positive  expression  of  the  Omaha  spirit  than  that  which 
found  voice  in  the  citizens'  meeting  of  June  18 — nearly  two  years  prior  to  the 
date  contemplated  for  the  opening  day.  The  encouragement  it  gave  to  the 
officers  and  managers  of  the  Exposition  amounted  to  an  inspiration.  There 
was  evident  a  desire  among  all  classes  of  citizens  to  further  the  project  to  the 
utmost.  So  earnest  was  this  popular  sentiment  that  success  seemed  then  to 
be  assured.  From  that  day  to  the  end  the  people  of  Omaha  were  as  one  in 
promoting  all  measures  looking  to  the  success  of  the  Exposition.  Without 
this  persistent  and  loyal  co-operation  upon  the  part  of  Omaha  the  great  difficul- 
ties which  confronted  the  managers  and  officers  from  time  to  time  could  not 
have  been  overcome.  A  consideration  of  all  the  forces  contributing  to  the 
ultimate  success  of  the  project  must  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  Omaha's  part 
in  the  great  work  was  paramount,  which  means  that  the  greater  share  of  the 
credit  for  the  glorious  achievement  must  be  accorded  to  the  able,  efficient  and 
public-spirited  men  of  the  Nebraska  metropolis. 


310 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Ladies'  Bureau  Headquarters 

LADIES'    BUREAU   OF   ENTERTAINMENT 

In  another  chapter  reference  is  made  to  the  important  part  taken  by  the 
women  of  Omaha  in  helping  to  entertain  the  distinguished  guests  of  the  city 
and  especially  the  wives  of  such  visitors  during  the  Exposition  season.  In 
order  to  systematize  this  branch  of  the  work  it  was  decided  to  organize  a 
Bureau  of  Entertainment,  consisting  entirely  of  ladies.  In  this  plan  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Exposition  was  influenced  somewhat  by  the  success  attained  by 
the  management  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  of  1893,  where  it  was  found 
to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  leading  society  women 
in  extending  to  honored  guests  the  hospitable  attention  their  rank  and  station 
suggested  or  required.  Such  an  organization  of  local  women  had  made  itself 
indispensable  at  the  Nashville  Exposition.  It  was  found  that  by  means  of  sub- 
committees, chosen  as  occasion  required,  arrangements  could  be  made  at  any 
moment  for  the  entertainment  of  small  parties  of  visitors;  while  the  whole 
committee  was  summoned  whenever  larger  groups  of  distinguished  guests 


What  Omaha  Did 


311 


Mrs.  Clement  Chase 


Mrs.  G.  W.  Wattles 


Mrs.  F.  P.  Kirkendall 


were  expected,  and  the  committee  did  the  honors  to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  The 
Bureau  of  Entertainment  was  composed  of  fifty  ladies,  headed  by  an  executive 
committee  of  ten,  as  follows : 

Mrs.  Clement  Chase,  president;  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Clarke,  vice-president; 
Mrs.  F.  P.  Kirkendall,  treasurer;  Mrs.  William  A.  Redick,  secretary;  Mrs. 
Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  Mrs.  Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock,  Mrs.  George  A.  Joslyn,  Mrs. 
J.  E.  Summers,  Jr.,  Mrs.  John  L.  Webster  and  Mrs.  C.  W.  Lyman.  The 
other  members  of  the  bureau  were  Mrs.  W.  F.  Allen,  Mrs.  John  N.  Baldwin, 
Mrs.  G.  F.  Bidwell,  Mrs.  John  S.  Brady,  Mrs.  Addison  S.  Carter,  Mrs.  Frank 
Colpetzer,  Mrs.  John  C.  Cowin,  Mrs.  George  B.  Dandy,  Mrs.  Edward  Dick- 
inson, Mrs.  Thomas  R.  Kimball,  Mrs.  George  W.  Lininger,  Mrs.  T.  J. 
Mackay,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Meikle,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Metcalf,  Mrs.  Chas.  Offutt,  Mrs. 


Mrs.   A.   L.   Reed 


Mrs.   E.   E.   Bruce 


Mrs.  G.   M.   Hitchcock 


312 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Mrs.  E.  Rosewater 


Mrs.  C.  W.  Lyman 


Mrs.  Z.  T.  Lindsey 


J.  N.  H.  Patrick,  Mrs.  W.  S.  Poppleton,  Mrs.  Arthur  Remington,  Mrs.  Alvin 
Saunders,  Mrs.  Arthur  C.  Smith,  Mrs.  Daniel  H.  Wheeler,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Henry  W. 
Yates,  Mrs.  W.  N.  Babcock,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Baum,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Bierbower,  Mrs. 
Arthur  D.  Brandeis,  Mrs.  Paul  Charlton,  Mrs.  W.  J.  Connell,  Mrs.  Edward 
Cudahy,  Mrs.  C.  N.  Dietz,  Mrs.  Thomas  Kilpatrick,  Mrs.  Chas.  T.  Kountze, 
Mrs.  W.  H.  McCord,  Mrs.  Chas.  F.  Manderson,  Mrs.  George  W.  Mercer, 
Mrs.  E.  W.  Nash,  Mrs.  Thos.  M.  Orr,  Mrs.  Edward  P.  Peck,  Mrs. 
Abraham  L.  Reed,  Mrs.  Andrew  Rosewater,  Mrs.  Charles  Shiverick,  Mrs. 
Charles  E.  Squires  and  Mrs.  C.  M.  Wilhelm. 

Rooms  were  arranged  for  the  use  of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment  in  the 
gallery  of  the  Mines  and  Mining  building.  Draperies  of  cool  green,  mattings 
and  wicker  furniture  gave  a  delightful  air  of  comfort  to  these  apartments, 


Mrs.  J.  L.  Webster 


Mrs.   John  C.   Cowin 


Mrs.  Charles  F.  Manderson 


What  Omaha  Did 


313 


Mrs.  W.  A.  Redick 


Mrs.   Alvin  Saunders 


Mrs.  J.  C.  Wharton 


which  were  much  sought  by  those  who  wished  to  pass  a  restful  hour.  The 
rooms  were  found  to  be  convenient  for  all  but  the  largest  receptions.  As  a  rule 
the  luncheons  were  given  at  the  official  cafe,  though  on  several  occasions  light 
refreshments  were  served  here.  The  series  of  entertainments,  so  energetically 
forwarded  by  this  committee,  culminated  upon  the  visit  of  President  McKinley, 
accompanied  by  several  of  his  cabinet  ministers,  distinguished  members 
of  the  diplomatic  corps  and  their  ladies.  Mrs.  McKinley  was  expected  and  a 
luncheon  had  been  arranged  in  her  honor  at  the  Omaha  Club.  Illness 
detained  her,  much  to  the  regret  of  all.  The  luncheon  was  therefore  given  to 
the  ladies:  of  the  diplomatic  corps  and  the  wives  of  the  cabinet  officers.  Mme. 
Wu  Ting  Fang,  wife  of  the  Chinese  Minister,  and  Mme.  Wing  Pom  Ye,  wife 
of  the  Korean  Minister,  occupied  the  seats  of  honor  on  either  side  of  the 


Mrs.  George  A.  Josslyn 


Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Woodman 


Mrs.  W.  N.  Babcock 


314 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Mrs.  E.  L.  Bierbower 


Mrs.  Solon  R.  Towne 


Mrs.  T.   M.  Orr 


president,  Mrs.  Clement  Chase.  It  was  the  most  elaborate  and  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  entertainments  of  the  summer.  The  activities  of  this  bureau 
made  a  highly  favorable  impression  upon  the  guests  of  the  Exposition, 
particularly  upon  those  from  the  East,  who  were  very  appreciative  of  the  steps 
taken  to  make  their  visits  pleasant.  The  governors  of  nearly  all  the  Western 
States  and  their  staffs,  together  with  their  ladies,  were  shown  attentions  upon 
their  visits;  and  in  many  ways  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment  was  found  to  fit 
in  admirably  with  the  functions  of  other  branches  of  the  Exposition. 

The  ladies  of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment  organized  and  carried  out  the 
flower  parade,  which  was  noted  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  features  of  the 
Exposition  summer;  and  they  also  arranged  the  masked  carnival  that  was 
held  on  the  pavement  of  the  Court  of  Honor  flanking  the  lagoon. 


Mrs.  Charles  Offutt 


Mrs.  T.   R.  Kimball 


What  Omaha  Did 


315 


THE   UPLIFT 

It  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  among  the  business  men  of  Omaha  that 
the  Exposition  gave  to  the  city  a  very  great  uplift,  whose  far-reaching  benefits 
are  felt  up  to  this  time.  Well-known  leaders  in  various  lines  of  business  were 
requested  to  express  themselves  on  the  subject,  and  they  responded  as  follows : 

Casper  E.  Yost,  President  of  the  Nebraska  Telephone  Company,  said : 

It  has  been  my  pleasure  to  witness  the  growth  of  Omaha  for  a  generation — to  note  the 
advent  of  forces  which  gave  it  momentum  and  the  successive  strides  made  by  the  city  in 
its  race  for  commercial  supremacy.  The  historian  has  chronicled  some  of  the  great  events 
in  the  early  history  of  our  city  which  were  vital  factors  in  the  work  of  laying  permanent 


Feature  of  Floral  Display 

foundations,  but  in  my  opinion  none  gave  to  it  a  higher  impulse  than  the  brilliant  success 
of  the  Exposition  of  1898.  We  had  a  good  city  at  that  time,  to  be  sure,  but  its  vitality  was 
sorely  drained  by  a  season  of  drouth  which  was  common  to  all  Western  States,  the  effects 
of  which  fell  upon  us  coincident  with  the  financial  panic  of  1893,  for  whose  origin  Nebraska 
was  in  nowise  responsible.  Omaha,  like  other  Western  towns,  was  hard  hit.  Financial 
disturbances  in  the  East  stopped  the  natural  trend  of  money  into  the  West,  while  our  corn 
fields  were  parched  and  burned  by  hot  winds  in  successive  seasons  of  protracted  drouth. 
As  a  city  we  were  caught  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones.  Our  business  was 
prostrated  and  our  realty  values  were  badly  impaired.  These  conditions  were  brought  upon 
us  through  no  fault  of  our  people. 

The  Exposition  was  suggested  in  the  fall  of  1895,  and  a  few  months  thereafter  was 
launched  by  our  public-spirited  men  who  pledged  themselves  to  make  it  a  success.  Many 
of  our  people  expressed  the  opinion  that  Omaha  could  not  carry  out  such  a  gigantic 
enterprise  under  such  discouraging  conditions.  But  it  was  done,  and  the  task  looks 
bigger  and  more  praiseworthy  as  we  contemplate  it  today  than  it  did  then.  Its  great  success 
proved  to  us  all  and  to  the  people  of  the  whole  country  that  Omaha  possessed  a  large  store 


316 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


„ 


Mrs.  N.  P.  Feil 


Mrs.  W.  T.   Allen 


Mrs.  Henry  W.  Yates 


of  vitality  and  material  strength  despite  the  effects  of  panic  and  drouth ;  and  that  we  had 
among  us  men  of  extraordinary  ability  and  power.  This  was  a  revelation  to  the  people  of 
the  East,  and  raised  the  reputation  of  the  city  as  nothing  had  ever  done  before.  Ever  since 
the  Exposition,  Omaha  has  been  drawing  dividends  on  her  investment  in  it,  and,  in  my 
opinion,  it  was  one  of  the  best  investments  our  people  ever  made. 

Charles  H.  Pickens,  General  Manager  of  Paxton  &  Gallagher  Co.,  said : 

At  the  time  of  the  Exposition,  Omaha  had  been  for  several  years  in  a  very  unsatisfactory 
condition,  both  commercially  and  financially.  The  Exposition,  which  was  promoted  and 
practically  financed  by  a  handful  of  Omaha's  prominent  citizens,  erected  and  conducted  an 
exhibition  which  attracted  attention  not  only  throughout  the  Central  West,  but  practically 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  was  largely  attended  by  people  of  the  East  who  at  that 
time  had  no  idea  or  conception  of  the  possibilities  of  the  country.  Many  located  here 
and  others  interested  capital,  causing  it  to  be  invested  here. 

The  Exposition  was  held  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish-American  War,  which  distracted  the 
popular  mind  for  a  few  months.  Notwithstanding  this  interruption,  the  Exposition  proved 


Mrs.  J.   M.   Metcalf 


Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Lininger 


Mrs.  D.  H.  Mercer 


What  Omaha  Did 


317 


Mrs.    Arthur   D.   Brandeis 


Mrs.  John   W.  Baldwin 


Mrs.  G.  F.  Bidwell 


to  be  a  wonderful  success,  not  only  educationally,  but  financially,  being  the  only  one  held 
in  the  United  States  which  paid  back  to  stockholders  practically  dollar  for  dollar.  This 
speaks  worlds  for  the  management  and  support  of  Omaha  citizens,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
liberal  support  given  the  enterprise  by  people  in  the  territory  tributary  to  Omaha. 

Ever  since  the  Exposition,  Omaha  has  been  steadily  forging  to  the  front,  until  today 
it  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  commercial  centers  of  the  country.  To  a  very  large 
extent  the  growth  and  development  of  this  community  were  due  to  the  Trans-Mississippi 
Exposition  and  the  ability,  integrity  and  loyalty  of  the  citizens  who  promulgated  and  carried 
on  the  great  enterprise. 

F.  P.  Kirkendall,  manufacturer,  said : 

In  my  opinion,  the  Exposition  was  of  incalculable  benefit  to  Omaha.  It  occurred  at  a 
time  when  our  community  needed  awakening  from  an  apparent  dormant  condition  it 
was  then  in.  It  awakened  new  life  in  our  citizens  and  gave  them  more  faith  in  the  future 
of  our  city  and  our  resources,  and  started  a  healthy_prosperity  which  has  continued  ever  since. 


Mrs.  Arthur  C.  Smith 


Mrs.  C.  M.  Wilhelm 


318  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

We  built  the  Exposition  at  a  time  when  the  whole  country  was  passing  through  a  period 
of  depression  which  tended  to  create  some  doubt  in  the  minds  of  many  of  our  prominent 
citizens  of  the  ultimate  success  of  the  undertaking,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  we  were 
benefited  by  the  fact  of  the  prevailing  apathy  throughout  the  country  at  the  time,  in  that  we 
were  able  to  make  our  money  go  farther  both  in  material  and  labor. 

The  Exposition  brought  thousands  of  strangers  to  our  city  who  were  astonished,  amused 
and  impressed  with  our  undertaking  and  success.  In  this  way  we  were  building  for  the  future, 
perhaps,  more  than  we  realized.  The  record  made  by  the  first  Exposition  held  in  Omaha 
will  always  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  most  successful  ever  held  in  this  country,  and  of 
great  benefit  to  the  entire  West. 

Luther  Drake,  President  of  the  Merchants  National  Bank,  said : 

The  Exposition  of  1898  was  the  turning  point  in  Omaha's  commercial  career.  The 
whole  West  had  suffered  for  five  years  from  the  effects  of  the  panic  of  1893  and  the 
droughts  of  1894  and  '95,  and  the  great  cities  had  very  naturally  sustained  severe  losses, 
owing  to  the  depressed  business  conditions  and  impaired  real  estate  values.  Omaha  was  no 
worse  off  in  that  respect  than  her  compeers.  The  Exposition  proved  to  the  country  that 
Omaha  was  built  on  such  a  safe  foundation  that,  notwithstanding  the  depression  of  years, 
it  was  still  strong  enough  to  formulate  and  conduct  a  great  project  to  a  brilliant  consumma- 
tion. It  brought  the  attention  of  people  East  and  West  to  this  city.  They  realized  that 
the  men  of  Omaha  were  made  of  the  material  that  has  enabled  mankind  to  subdue  the 
wilderness  and  make  it  produce  great  wealth.  The  success  of  the  Exposition  caused 
investors  to  single  Omaha  out  as  a  good  place  in  which  to  put  their  money,  a  result  which 
its  promoters  sought  from  the  beginning  to  attain. 

Henry  W.  Yates,  President  of  the  Nebraska  National  Bank,  said : 

In  reply  to  the  request  of  the  history  committee  of  the  Omaha  Exposition  of  1898  for 
some  brief  expression  of  my  views  concerning  the  ways  in  which  the  Exposition  benefited 
Omaha,  I  would  say  on  first  impulse  that  the  greatest  benefit  it  conferred  was  in  being 
a  success. 

When  the  enterprise  was  inaugurated  it  occasioned  considerable  fear  and  foreboding 
with  many,  and,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  especially  with  some  of  those  whose  financial 
backing  was  absolutely  required  to  give  the  project  any  substantial  standing. 

The  action  of  these  men  under  the  circumstances  was  the  most  splendid  exhibition  of 
civic  patriotism  that  has  ever  come  under  my  observation. 

The  success  was  mainly  due  to  the  fact  that  our  most  prominent  business  men  ignored, 
for  the  time  being,  the  strenuous  demands  of  their  personal  enterprises  to  take  charge 
of  the  different  departments  of  the  Exposition. 

The  period  was  a  critical  one,  closely  following,  as  it  did,  the  panic  year  of  1893  and 
the  bad  crop  years  of  1894  and  1895,  but  proved  in  the  end  to  be  auspicious. 

The  outcome  of  the  political  campaign  of  1896  in  laying  to  rest  the  financial  heresies 
which  flourished  during  the  period  of  depression  led  to  a  great  business  revival  all  over 
the  country. 

Doubtless  Omaha  business  would  have  shared  in  this  recovery — Exposition  or  no 
Exposition — but  its  successful  conclusion  conduced  in  no  small  degree  to  the  alacrity  with 
which  our  business  men  took  advantage  of  the  situation. 

One  of  the  greatest  benefits  of  the  Exposition  was  the  fact  that  our  business  men  were 
brought  closer  together,  became  better  acquainted  with  each  other,  and  learned  to  work 
together,  "one  for  all  and  all  for  one,"  a  habit  which  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  greater  guaranty  for  the  future  prosperity  of  Omaha  than  the 
existence  of  this  spirit  among  those  who  carry  the  fate  of  the  city  in  their  hands,  and  for 
the  creation  of  this  alone,  the  Exposition  has  well  justified  its  existence. 


What  Omaha  Did  319 

L.  H.  Korty,  former  superintendent  of  telegraph,  Union  Pacific  Railway, 
said: 

Conceived  at  a  time  when  Omaha,  like  many  other  towns,  was  in  the  dumps,  the  pro- 
posed exposition  was  looked  upon  by  many  well-meaning  citizens  as  a  very  hazardous  under- 
taking which,  if  it  failed  of  success,  would  seriously  reflect  upon  the  city.  The  result, 
however,  proved  everything  that  could  have  been  wished.  The  enterprise  and  ability  of  its 
promoters  to  establish  and  carry  the  Exposition  to  a  successful  termination  was  a  surprise 
to  visitors  as  well  as  to  Omaha  people  themselves.  It  forcibly  demonstrated  to  our  citizens 
that  concerted  action  in  all  matters  looking  toward  the  upbuilding  of  Omaha  is  of  the 
greatest  importance,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  lesson  from  this  undertaking  has 
been  of  great  benefit,  and  gave  our  people  the  inspiration  and  determination  which  have 
accomplished  so  much  during  the  past  few  years  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  city  and  its 
numerous  enterprises. 

The  Exposition  proved  very  interesting  and  satisfactory  to  the  visitors.  While  not 
as  pretentious  as  some  of  its  predecessors,  it  was  very  attractive  in  its  general  arrangement 
and  character  of  exhibits.  The  setting  of  the  main  buildings  was  charming,  and  was  still 
further  enhanced  by  the  master  hand  of  one  of  Omaha's  sons — Henry  Rustin.  The  beautiful 
electric  effects  produced  by  him  had  never  been  equaled. 

Altogether,  I  believe  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition,  as  an  advertisement,  was  one 
of  the  best  investments  ever  made  by  our  citizens. 

W.  F.  Wright,  of  the  Wright  &  Wilhelmy  Company,  said : 

That  the  Exposition  of  1898  was  the  beginning  of  an  upward  and  forward  movement — 
affecting  every  branch  of  business — that  has  never  ceased,  is  an  unquestioned  fact 

The  important  point  to  me  is  not  the  effect  but  the  cause — the  courage,  the  energy  and 
the  persistency  of  the  projectors  of  this  great  movement  who,  in  the  face  of  conditions  that 
prevailed  for  three  years  previous,  conceived,  organized,  developed  and  brought  to  a  success- 
ful issue  one  of  the  most  notable  Expositions  ever  held. 

May  the  honor  and  credit  to  which  they  are  entitled  be  given  them  by  the  present  gen- 
eration rather  than  by  the  succeeding  ones. 

Isaac  W.  Carpenter,  President  of  the  Carpenter  Paper  Company,  said : 

In  my  judgment  the  chief  benefits  Omaha  derived  from  the  Trans-Mississippi  Expo- 
sition were : 

First — The  wide  advertisement  Omaha  received  therefrom. 

Second — The  uniting  of  our  citizens  of  all  classes  in  one  great  successful  public  enter- 
prise, thereby  greatly  strengthening  the  faith  of  our  citizens  in  their  own  city. 

Third — The  development  of  some  great  leaders  among  us,  which  was  done  by  the  large 
demands  upon  the  resourcefulness  of  the  President  and  Executive  Committee. 

Fourth — The  impetus  it  gave  our  city  in  a  material  way  by  the  completing  of  two  much- 
needed  railway  passenger  stations,  by  the  entrance  of  one  new  railroad  into  Omaha,  and  by 
raising  the  public  estimate  of  our  city,  its  citizens  and  its  business  institutions  all  over  the 
United  States,  but  particularly  from  the  Great  Lakes  west  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

E.  V.  Lewis,  General  Manager  of  the  Crane  Co.,  said : 

The  Exposition  of  1898  was  the  starting-point  of  our  commercial  development.  It 
unified  the  people  of  our  city  and  State.  It  gave  an  impulse  to  local  business.  Far  and 
wide  it  drew  attention  to  Omaha,  and  the  people  of  the  State  got  a  better  idea  of  what 
we  could  tlo.  It  increased  the  respect  of  our  people  for  the  business  men  of  our  own 


320  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

community,  and  at  the  same  time  confirmed  the  faith  of  these  men  in  their  ability  to  do 
things  worth  while  and  to  meet  any  situation  that  might  arise  in  the  development  of  our 
city  and  State. 

Ward  M.  Burgess,  Vice-President  of  M.  E.  Smith  &  Co.,  wholesale  dry 
goods,  said : 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Exposition  gave  Omaha  an  uplift.  Our  books  show  that  we 
enjoyed  an  increase  of  trade  during  the  year  of  the  Exposition  of  25  per  cent  over  and  above 
the  year  before,  much  of  which  was  undoubtedly  due  to  the  Exposition,  which  gave  Omaha  a 
great  impetus.  We  have  all  kept  on  growing,  and  a  great  deal  of  the  city's  growth  is  due 
to  the  Exposition  of  1898.  It  started  people  to  coming  to  Omaha,  and  they  have  been 
coming  ever  since.  It  made  the  people  friendly — they  came  from  all  sections.  Many  who 
had  never  come  before  have  come  repeatedly.  It  caused  them  to  appreciate  the  fact 
that  Omaha  was  a  big  city  and  could  do  big  things.  It  gave  Omaha  a  better  standing  in  the 
East  among  people  with  whom  we  do  business.  It  opened  their  eyes  to  the  fact  that  we 
were  alive  and  aggressive ;  that  we  had  confidence  in  ourselves  and  our  community.  More 
than  anything  else  the  Exposition  had  to  do  with  bringing  our  business  men  together  into 
a  big.  harmonious  body,  and  since  the  Exposition  they  have  worked  together  for  our  best 
interests.  This  has  done  us  more  good  than  anything  else.  A  better  spirit  prevails  among 
our  people,  which  is  necessary  in  strengthening  the  commercial  interests  of  the  city. 

Major  R.  S.  Wilcox,  Manager  for  Browning,  King  &  Co.,  said: 

The  Exposition  was  the  making  of  Omaha.  It  was  the  first  big  thing  we  had  had. 
There  is  no  question  it  helped  the  retail  trade  of  the  city.  In  one  month  our  house  sold  out 
one  complete  stock.  We  were  swamped  with  business.  Other  retail  houses  shared  in  the 
unusual  trade.  The  Exposition  attracted  trade  from  surrounding  towns  for  successive  years. 
Even  to  this  day  one  may  hear  talk  about  the  Exposition  in  those  towns.  It  was  the  best 
investment  Omaha  ever  made. 

C.  M.  Wilhelm,  of  Orchard  &  Wilhelm  Carpet  Company,  said : 

The  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  was  an  inspiration  to  the  people  of  Omaha  and 
Nebraska.  Following  the  great  panic  of  1893  and  its  disastrous  results,  the  effect  of  the 
undertaking  was  to  stimulate  local  business,  to  give  the  people  of  Omaha  confidence  in 
themselves  and  to  attract  the  admiration  of  the  country  at  large  for  the  enterprise  shown 
by  this  community.  The  impetus  given  to  business  in  the  building  and  carrying  forward 
of  the  Exposition  had  an  influence  in  placing  Omaha  firmly  in  the  column  of  advancing  cities. 

It  was  an  opportunity,  grasped  by  men  capable  of  making  it  a  great  success,  both  as 
a  commercial  enterprise,  advertising  the  city  to  the  utmost  parts  of  the  world,  and  as  a 
means  of  broadening  the  knowledge  and  developing  the  tastes  of  the  people. 

Rome  Miller,  Proprietor  of  the  Hotel  Rome,  said: 

Expressing  my  opinion  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition,  held  in  Omaha  in  1898, 
bearing  on  the  subject  of  the  benefits  derived  from  it,  would  say  the  benefits  accrued  were 
not  only  for  Omaha  and  the  State  of  Nebraska,  but  the  entire  West. 

It  found  us  a  thriving  village,  and  left  us  a  metropolis.  It  tolled  the  bell  of  new  life 
and  confidence,  and  its  echoes  have  been  vibrating  with  increased  power  from  the  date 
of  its  close  to  the  present  moment. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  a  greater  Omaha,  stimulating,  as  it  did,  the  civic  pride,  and  it 
taught  its  citizens  love  for  music  and  art,  such  as  they  had  never  possessed. 

It  fostered  a  unity  of  action  and  good  fellowship  among  its  business  men  which  have 
been  of  untold  benefit  to  Omaha  and  the  State. 


What  Omaha  Did  321 

From  the  publicity  standpoint,  nothing  equaled  it  in  the  past,  and  nothing  can  equal 
it  in  the  future.  It  gave  us  prestige,  credit ;  it  was  all  good,  elevating  and  instructive,  and 
nothing  destructive.  Too  much  praise  can  not  be  given  to  the  men  who  guided  its  destinies 
and  brought  it  to  its  fitting  close  of  triumph  and  glory. 

G.  H.  Payne,  President  of  the  Payne  Investment  Company,  said : 

In  regard  to  the  effect  that  the  Omaha  Exposition  of  '98  had  on  Omaha,  would  say 
that,  in  my  judgment,  it  was  just  the  thing  that  we  needed  to  advertise  the  resources  of  the 
great  State  of  Nebraska  and  Central  West  at  the  most  opportune  time  that  it  could  have 
possibly  been  held.  It  crystallized  and  made  possible  the  Omaha  of  today  and  the  still 
greater  Omaha  of  the  future. 

Charles  R.  Sherman,  of  the  Sherman  &  McConnell  Drug  Company,  said : 

Omaha's  best  friends  will  not  deny  that  its  commercial  tide  had  ebbed  to  low-water 
mark  during  the  few  years  previous  to  1898.  The  unprecedented  droughts,  continuing 
through  several  years  and  extending  to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  throughout  the  entire 
Trans-Mississippi  territory,  had  impaired  agricultural  production  so  seriously  that  the 
country  merchant  was,  in  many  instances,  in  financial  straits,  through  lack  of  ability  to 
pay  on  the  part  of  his  farmer  customer ;  while,  in  turn,  Omaha's  wholesalers  and  manufac- 
turers had  suffered  financial  loss  through  failures  of  country  merchants. 

The  prospect  of  a  great  Exposition  that  would  attract  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
people  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  but  more  especially  from  the  Trans-Mississippi 
States,  seemed  at  first  too  good  to  be  true,  but  the  strong,  earnest  men  behind  the  project 
gave  assurance,  from  the  first,  of  its  success. 

The  effect  upon  the  entire  commercial  life  of  Omaha  was  immediately  apparent.  Long 
before  the  gates  were  opened  in  the  Spring  of  1898,  the  feeble  and  uncertain  pulse  of 
Omaha's  commercial  life  took  on  a  new  tone  and  became  strong  and  regular.  The  influx 
of  Exposition  builders  during  the  year  1897  was  an  intimation  of  what  might  be  expected 
when  the  Exposition  was  opened  and  the  city  thronged  with  visitors.  The  Exposition  itself, 
opening  on  time  and  under  most  favorable  auspices,  silenced  all  doubters.  The  immediate 
effect  was  the  pouring  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  into  all  channels  of  trade  in  this 
city. 

The  visitors  to  the  Exposition  were,  in  the  main,  residents  of  the  States  naturally  tribu- 
tary to  Omaha,  and  were  not  slow  in  availing  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  make  pur- 
chases of  Omaha's  merchants,  the  result  being  that  the  retail  stores  were  crowded  with 
shoppers,  while  the  wholesale  merchants  and  manufacturers  noticed  a  remarkable  increase 
in  the  number  of  country  buyers  in  town. 

While  the  immediate  effect  of  all  this  was  invaluable,  and,  in  many  instances,  all  that 
saved  some  retail  and  wholesale  institutions  from  going  to  the  wall  altogether,  the  lasting 
effects  have  been  of  much  more  value. 

In  thousands  of  instances  the  visit  to  the  Exposition  was  also  the  first  trip  to  Omaha, 
and  the  courteous  and  pleasant  treatment  extended  by  the  Exposition  management  as  well 
as  the  hospitable  attitude  of  the  Omaha  homes,  made  the  Exposition  visitor  resolve  that 
he  would  come  to  Omaha  again. 

That  he  has  been  coming  is  evidenced  by  the  continuous  growth  and  prosperity  of 
Omaha  during  all  the  years  since  the  Exposition,  as  well  as  the  much  closer  friendship  that 
has  grown  between  the  people  of  this  city  and  its  rural  citizenry. 


last  ceremonial  act  incident  to  the  Exposition  was  the 
awarding  of  the  honor  medals  to  the  President  and 
to  each  member  of  the  Executive  Committee,  which 
occurred  September  10,  1902.  This  award  was  provided  for  at 
a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  at  the  Omaha  Club,  June  30, 
1902,  when  one  of  the  directors,  John  C.  Wharton,  moved  that  a 
committee  of  three  be  named  by  Secretary  Wakefield  (the  latter 
to  be  chairman)  to  select  and  secure  gold  medals  to  be  presented 
to  the  President  and  to  each  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
in  token  of  the  high  regard  entertained  by  the  Board  of  Directors,  and 
in  recognition  of  honorable  and  self-sacrificing  services  to  the  Exposi- 
tion. The  motion  was  carried  unanimously.  Mr.  Wakefield  named 
G.  M.  Hitchcock  and  John  C.  Wharton  to  act.  with  him  as  such 
committee.  As  soon  as  practicable,  the  committee  proceeded  to  ask 
for  designs  and  bids,  which  were  submitted  after  some  delay.  After 
changes  suggested  by  the  committee  had  been  made  the  contract  was  let  and 
the  medals  were  delivered  in  the  early  fall. 

Pursuant  to  the  action  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  Secretary  Wakefield 
called  a  special  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  Committee  of  Award,  which  was  held 
in  room  130,  Millard  Hotel,  at  noon,  Wednesday,  September  10,  1902.  In 
this  room  hundreds  of  meetings  of  the  Executive  Committee  had  been  held, 
and  because  of  this  fact  it  was  chosen  for  the  place  of  formal  presentation  of 
the  medals.  There  were  present  as  guests  of  the  special  committee,  President 
Wattles,  Chairman  Linclsey  and  Messrs.  Rosewater,  Kirkendall,  Bruce,  Reed 
and  Babcock. 

After  luncheon  had  been  served,  G.  M.  Hitchcock  rose  and  addressed  the 
members  of  the  party.  Referring  to  his  appointment  as  a  member  of  the 


324  .  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

committee  on  award  of  medals,  he  said  he  had  not  hesitated  to  assume  the 
pleasant  duties  involved.  He  said  that  the  committee  represented  not  only 
the  sentiments  of  the  directory,  but  also  those  of  over  six  thousand  stock- 
holders and  people  of  the  whole  community.  "These  directors,  these  stock- 
holders and  this  community  generally  tender  you  gentlemen,  in  this  little 
souvenir,  a  slight  recognition  of  your  honorable,  able  and  self-sacrificing 
services  covering  a  period  of  several  years.  The  President  and  each  mem- 
ber of  this  committee  who  became  the  head  of  an  important  department  of 
the  Exposition  laid  down  for  a  time  the  burdens  and  ambitions  of  private 
life  and  took  up  the  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  public  service.  You  came 
to  the  relief  of  this  community  when  men  of  courage  and  ability  were  needed, 
and  patiently,  persistently,  in  the  face  of  discouragements  and  in  spite  of  the 
greatest  obstacles,  you,  as  the  responsible  officers  of  this  great  undertaking, 
worked  it  out,  not  to  an  ordinary  success,  but  to  a  miraculous  achievement. 
When  the  Exposition  was  closed,  viewed  in  the  light  of  all  past  expositions, 
it  had  been  a  wonderful  success,  financially  and  artistically.  Each  of 

you  was  at  the  head  of  a  great  department  of  this  large  enterprise.  Each  of 
you  at  one  time  or  another  bore  the  brunt  of  the  struggle.  At  one  time  it 
fell  upon  the  department  of  exhibits;  at  another  time  upon  the  department  of 
concessions  and  privileges;  at  another  time  upon  the  department  of  transpor- 
tation; at  another  time  upon  the  department  of  buildings  and  grounds;  at 
another  time  upon  the  department  of  publicity  and  promotion,  and  we  pain- 
fully remember  how  frequently  it  fell  upon  the  department  of  ways  and 
means.  Each  officer  sustained  his  part  and  fulfilled  his  duties  individually; 
and  when  the  Executive  Committee  met  and  the  heads  of  all  departments 
were  united  the  committee  spoke  as  one  man  and  exercised  the  great  power 
of  the  Exposition  with  substantial  harmony  and  effect.  Had  a  single  depart- 
ment failed,  or  had  the  head  of  a  single  department  faltered,  the  great  enter- 
prise would  have  been  seriously  damaged.  But  the  patience,  persistence, 
ability  and  energy  displayed  by  each  and  all  combined  to  bring  about  the 
splendid  result.  I  am  sure,  however,  that  no  member  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee would  question  for  a  moment  the  propriety  of  my  remarks  when  I 
particularly  specify  the  great  services  of  the  President  of  this  Exposition, 
who  met  constantly  with  the  Executive  Committee  and  shared  in  the  labors 
of  the  head  of  each  department,  fulfilling  the  duty  of  each  in  his  temporary 
absence;  and  who,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  subordinated  and  sacrificed 
his  personal  interests  and  his  private  affairs  that  a  great  Exposition  of  which 
he  was  the  head  might  succeed.  Had  failure  come  we  cannot  question  that 
upon  the  shoulders  of  the  President  would  have  been  placed  much  of  the 
responsibility  for  disaster,  simply  from  the  fact  that  he  occupied  first  place  in 


The  Curtain  Falls  325 

the  organization.  Therefore,  in  the  day  of  its  great  and  final  success,  and 
in  the  awarding  to  you,  gentlemen,  of  these  mementos  of  the  long  fight  and 
great  triumph,  it  is  but  proper  to  give  first  place  to  the  President,  who  worked 
with  you  so  effectively." 

The  speaker  called  upon  John  C.  Wharton  to  make  formal  delivery  of 
the  medals  prepared  by  authority  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Mr.  Wharton  said  in  part :  "It  is  a  pleasant  duty  enjoined  by  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  of  presenting  golden  medals 
to  you,  Mr.  President,  and  to  you  gentlemen  constituting  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Board,  as  an  expression  of  its  high  appreciation,  and  that  of  the 
public  as  well,  for  the  faithful,  unselfish  and  efficient  services  rendered  by  you 
in  carrying  to  a  successful  culmination  a  stupendous  enterprise.  *  *  *  You 
moved  nobly  forward,  nothing  daunting  your  courage  or  impeding  your 
efforts,  bringing  forth  a  splendid  exhibit  of  the  products  of  the  Northwest 
placed  in  buildings  of  marvelous  architectural  beauty!  *  *  You  brought 
to  perfection  the  mighty  project  committed  to  your  hands.  You  labored 
long  and  well.  You  sacrificed  your  own  business  interests,  leaving  the 
management  of  your  banking  and  financial  institutions,  wholesale  houses 
and  daily  journals,  demonstrating  to  the  people  your  patriotism  and  loyalty 
for  the  public  good.  *  *  * 

"By  direction  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and 
International  Exposition,  I  have  the  honor  of  presenting  to  you,  President 
Wattles,  and  to  you,  Messrs.  Lindsey,  Rosewater,  Kirkendall,  Bruce,  Reed 
and  Babcock,  these  beautiful  gold  medals  (handing  to  each,  in  turn,  a  medal), 
as  a  slight  token  of  our  high  appreciation  of  the  faithful,  efficient  and  heroic 
services  rendered  by  you  in  bringing  to  such  a  glorious  culmination  the 
industrial  Exposition  of  1898.  Your  success  was  not  merely  an  artistic,  but 
it  was  also  a  financial,  success,  returning  as  you  did  ninety  cents  on  the  dollar 
to  stockholders;  and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when  industrial  paralysis  and  financial 
depression  \vere  sweeping  over  the  commercial  world  like  the  simoon  of  the 
desert,  blighting  trade  and  deadening  enterprise.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
you  triumphed — triumphed  because  of  the  personal  sacrifices  you  made; 
because  of  your  unswerving  honesty  in  the  management  of  the  undertaking,  and 
your  unalterable  determination  to  crown  with  glorious  success  a  gigantic 
enterprise.  *  *  *  We  present  these  medals,  not  for  their  intrinsic  value, 
but  in  testimony  of  regard  and  appreciation.  Let  them  be  kept  by  you 
and  your  posterity  as  souvenirs,  reminding  you  and  them  of  the  faithful 


326 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


services  rendered  by  you  in  connection  with  the  Industrial  Exposition  of 
1898." 

The  medals  were  products  of  the  best  goldsmiths'  art,  about  four  inches 
in  length  by  i  3-4  inches  wide;  14-k  gold.  The  face  bore  a  figure  of  Victory, 
wings  and  arms  outstretched,  standing  at  the  portal  of  the  Hall  of  Fame.  The 
right  hand  held  a  horseshoe  wreath  of  laurel  leaves;  in  the  left  hand  there 
was  a  scroll  bearing  the  sentence:  "Gloria  actiones  Cinxit"  (Glory  surrounds 


Loggia  at  Night 

his  conduct).  Near  the  top  or  edge  of  the  medal,  in  raised  letters,  was  the 
word  "Omaha."  Below  the  figure  of  winged  victory,  in  blue  enamel,  were 
the  words :  "Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition,  1898."  On 
the  reverse  side  were  engraved  in  script  the  words :  "Unanimously  voted 
by  the  Board  of  Directors  in  Appreciation  of  Honorable  and  Self-Sacrificing 
Services  to  the  Exposition."  The  medal  proper  hung  pendant  below  two 
bars,  on  the  topmost  of  which  appeared  name  of  recipient,  and  on  the  lower 
bar  was  engraved  the  word  "President,"  or  "Executive  Committee,"  as  the 
case  required. 


The  Curtain  Falls  327 

After  the  recipients  had  examined  the  medals  and  passed  appreciative 
comments  thereon,  Chairman  Lindsey  called  upon  President  Wattles  to  make 
response  to  the  presentation  addresses.  The  latter  said : 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Presentation  Committee,  Mr.  Chairman  and  Mem- 
bers of  the  Executive  Committee : 

"A  feeling  of  sadness  comes  over  me  as  we  meet  for  the  last  time  in 
this  familiar  room  to  receive  these  beautiful  medals  and  listen  to  the  words 
of  praise  and  commendation  so  lavishly  expressed  by  the  Presentation  Com- 
mittee. For  myself  and  for  the  Executive  Committee,  I  thank  you  most 
heartily,  and  through  you  I  thank  the  Board  of  Directors  for  this  appropriate 
expression  of  their  esteem  and  appreciation.  We  will  each  of  us  value  these 
beautiful  medals  beyond  price,  and  through  our  lives  they  will  be  preserved 
as  reminders  of  the  confidence  and  good  will  of  our  fellow  workers  in  an 
enterprise  fraught  with  many  difficulties  but  crowned  with  unparalleled  suc- 
cess. 

"It  was  almost  seven  years  ago  that  the  first  steps  were  taken  in  the 
preliminary  work  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition, 
and  those  first  efforts  were  difficult  in  many  respects.  Many  prominent  busi- 
ness men  in  the  community  not  only  refused  their  support  but  ridiculed  the 
enterprise  and  those  connected  with  it.  Those  were  dark  days  and  it  took 
great  moral  courage  to  pull  against  the  tide  of  public  opinion,  which  seemed 
to  hesitate  at  so  great  an  undertaking. 

"It  was  nearly  five  years  ago  that  this  Executive  Committee  was  organ- 
ized and  began  its  meetings  in  this  room.  Here  has  been  the  scene  of  many 
heated  arguments,  and  here  have  been  settled  many  of  the  vital  questions 
which  meant  so  much  for  the  success  or  failure  of  the  enterprise.  How  well 
these  questions  were  settled  the  final  success  tells  the  story.  As  I  look  back  on 
the  many  differences  of  opinion  and  on  some  of  the  unpleasant  experiences,  I 
sometimes  wonder  if  they  were  not  all  for  the  best,  and  I  believe  but  for  these 
differences  we  might  have  made  many  mistakes  we  avoided.  I  have  heard  our 
plan  of  organization  criticised,  and  at  times  during  the  Exposition  I  questioned 
whether  or  not  it  was  the  best.  This  plan  of  dividing  the  responsibility  among 
several  heads  of  departments  was  proposed  by  myself,  as  I  was  willing  and 
anxious  to  distribute  the  burdens,  and  I  am  now  willing  to  divide  the  honors 
equally  between  myself  and  the  members  of  this  committee.  The  only  addi- 
tional credit  I  claim  is  oh  account  of  longer  service.  I  took  up  the  work  as  a 
public  duty  and  simply  did  my  best  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances. 
Each  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  did  the  same,  and  as  I  now  look 
back  on  what  was  accomplished,  I  do  not  think  the  plan  of  organization  could 
have  been  improved. 


328 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


"As  we  meet  for  the  last  time  as  a  committee  to  receive  these  honors  so 
generously  bestowed,  I  can  say  with  a  heart  filled  with  gratitude  to  this 
Presentation  Committee,  that  we  thank  you  again  for  your  kind  words  and 
for  these  beautiful  medals,  and  to  the  members  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
I  wish  you  one  and  all  prosperity  and  happiness  throughout  your  lives." 


jt  titsttit  ft 
it  itiitttt  ti 


PART   II 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  SPECIAL   DAYS 


I  of  this  History  has  been  devoted  to  what  may  be 
termed  the  History  proper,  eliminating  the  details  which 
would    make    the    narrative    less    interesting    as    such. 
Part  II  will  present  to  the  reader  a  feast  of  reason  and  flow 
of  soul,  for  which  the  Exposition  was  noted.     It  has  been  stated 
in  Part  I  that  the  success  of  the  Exposition  was  partly  due  to  the 
thoughtful  arrangements   on   the  part  of  the  management  for 
special  days,  frequently  interspersed  with  the  routine,  by  which 
the  people  of  the  entire  nation  were  made  to  feel  that  they  had 
a  personal  interest  in  the  Exposition.     In  the  rotation  of  these  special 
days,  representative  men  and  organizations  from  all  parts  of  the  land  were 
brought  into  the  presence  of  the  visitors,  and  the  addresses  delivered 
upon  subjects  purely  social  and  economic,  politics  being  eliminated,  would 
have  graced  any  forum.     It  is  to  the  recording  of  the  proceedings  of 
these  special  days,  and  the  addresses  delivered  in  connection  with  them, 
that  Part  II  of  this  History  is  devoted. 
First   in  the  order  of  historic   events  of  the   Exposition,   though   occurring 
more  than  a  year  previous  to  the  opening  of  the  gates,  was  the 


LAYING  OF  THE   CORNERSTONE  OF  THE  ARCH  OF  THE  STATES. 
ARBOR   DAY  — April  22,  1897 

An  outline  of  the  exercises  and  the  program  of  the  day  were  given  an  appro- 
priate place  in  Chapter  III,  Part  I.  The  address  of  Hon.  J.  Sterling  Morton,  of 
Nebraska  City,  Nebr.,  ex-Secretary  of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States,  on 
that  memorable  occasion  was  as  follows : 

"In  the  wisdom  of  His  creative  majesty  the  great  Mysteriarch  of  the  universe 
surrounded  man  with  mysteries.  Without  such  environment  there  would  have 
been  no  incentive  to  thought,  no  inducement  to  investigation.  The  life  and  growth 
of  a  blade  of  grass,  the  development  of  a  rose,  or  the  evolution  of  a  great  oak  from 
an  acorn  alike  suggests  the  unknown,  the  miraculous  and  the  unsolved. 


332  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"In  1854  the  pioneers  of  Nebraska  made  the  first  lodgement  of  modern  civi- 
lization upon  the  vast,  undulating  ocean  of  fertile  lands  which  stretched  in  solitude 
from  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  River  toward  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

"At  the  point  of  the  plow  they  have  compelled  the  prairies  of  Nebraska  to 
deliver  up,  during  the  last  forty-one  years,  thirty-six  abundant  crops,  some  of 
them  almost  miraculous  in  yield.  During  that  period  of  time,  in  remote  frontier 
portions  of  the  commonwealth,  there  have  been  some  failures,  or  partial  failures,  of 

crops  from  drouth  and  grasshoppers.  But  in  the 
eastern  portion  of  Nebraska  there  may  be  found 
hundreds  of  farms  which,  since  1855,  have  never 
once  failed  to  remunerate  intelligent  tillage  with 
substantial  rewards.  The  men  who  legitimately, 
steadfastly  and  discreetly  have  trusted  to  the  plow 
and  intelligent  farming  in  the  first  settled  sections 
of  Nebraska  since  1885  are,  as  a  rule,  successful 
men,  not  mortgaged  nor  in  financial  straits.  There 
is  no  part  of  the  United  States  which  can  exhibit 
from  its  first  cultivation  a  crop  record  equal  in 
annual  yield  to  that  which  eastern  Nebraska  is 
proud  to  exhibit  from  the  day  when  agriculture 
first  put  its  autograph  upon  the  prairie  with  the 
point  of  the  plow,  down  to  the  autumn  of  1896 

J.   Sterling  Morton  1-1  i  1^1-11 

when  the  sun  shone  and  the  winds  played  among 

the  cornfields  in  this  commonwealth,  which  produced  more  than  two  hundred 
millions  of  bushels.  Nebraska  is  prepared  with  statistics,  figures  and  facts  to 
prove  that  during  the  last  forty  years  no  State  in  the  Union  has  surpassed 
it  in  the  regularity  and  abundance  of  its  crops.  Thus  far,  however,  we  have 
only  demonstrated  that  the  elements  of  plant  life  and  growth,  which  were 
primarily  absorbed  by  the  wild  grasses  and  flowers,  are  now  appropriated  and 
utilized  by  corn,  oats,  barley,  rye,  wheat  and  a  variety  of  root  and  other  food 
crops.  The  summer  and  autumn  sunlight  which  formerly  only  bronzed  prairie 
grass  now  gilds  the  grain  fields,  burnishes  ripening  fruit  and  matures  ample 
rewards  in  varied  products  for  intelligent  toil. 

"But  after  the  demonstration  of  the  plow  as  to  the  fertility  of  Nebraska 
another  problem  demanded  solution.  The  home  builders  in  this  new  country 
desired  the  embellishment  of  the  plains  by  woodlands  and  forests,  and  the  ques- 
tion as  to  how  it  should  be  accomplished  and  as  to  whether  forests  would  thrive 
in  these  soils  compelled  earnest  and  analytical  investigation.  Consequently,  after 
much  experimentation,  much  of  individual  exhortation  and  effort,  there  was 
evolved  out  of  the  shadeless  plains  and  from  the  utter  desolation  of  treelessness, 
a  plan  for  unanimous  tree  planting  on  a  given  day  by  all  the  people  in  all  the 
counties  of  all  the  commonwealth.  And  the  plan  took  root  like  a  strong  and 
valuable  tree.  Its  growth  today  reaches  out  into  all  the  States  of  the  American 
republic.  It  has  been  grafted  upon  the  school  system  of  the  entire  country.  It 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 

has  been  transported  to  European  countries  which  are  carefully  cherishing  it.  In 
Mexico,  Australia,  and  in  some  of  the  far-away  islands  of  the  oceans  and  seas,  it 
is  permanently  established  as  an  anniversary,  and  everywhere  it  is  recognized 
and  welcomed  as  a  child  of  Nebraska. 

"In  all  the  timbered  States  of  the  East,  and  in  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Ohio; 
in  fact,  in  each  of  the  heavily  wooded  sections  of  the  United  States,  vast  areas 
of  trees  were  unnecessarily  cut  down  and  the  logs,  even  of  valuable  oaks,  walnuts 
and  other  cabinet  woods,  thoughtlessly,  uselessly  transmitted  to  smoke  and  ashes. 
How  few  of  the  axmen,  the  tree-slayers,  who  kindled  those  disastrous  conflagra- 
tions, realized  that  the  flames  which  they  evolved  were  merely  stolen  sunlight  set 
free,  enfranchised.  The  mystery  of  the  life  of  a  great  and  aged  tree  is  a  majesty 
compared  to  which  that  of  human  royalty  is  tame,  puerile  and  insignificant.  From 
our  earliest  childhood  we  are  taught  that  fire  and  water  will  not  mix,  but  in  the 
tree  they  mingle  as  friends  and  co-laborers.  With  its  foliage,  which  are  its  lungs, 
the  tree  breathes  in  the  rain  and  the  light.  Every  sunbeam  which  it  inhales  is 
imprisoned  only  to  be  freed  by  combustion.  The  water  and  the  fire  are  married 
and  dwell  inter  dependency  in  all  the  vegetable  kingdom. 

"Like  vast,  disciplined  armies,  the  forests  of  the  American  continent  stood 
guard  over  the  fertility  of  the  lands  and  the  health  and  lives  of  all  the  animal 
creation  which  they  protected.  With  their  foliage  of  emerald  and  the  whispering 
winds,  those  great  stretches  of  wooded  land  lured  the  light  of  the  sun,  the  moisture 
of  the  clouds  to  their  hearts  and  made  them  hostages,  pledges  against  flood,  drouth 
and  the  disease  which  those  calamities  create.  But  man's  wanton  wastefulness 
of  the  superb  woods  of  the  United  States  has  dried  up  thousands  of  springs  of 
delicious  drinking  water,  parched  out  beautiful  brooks  and  useful  mill  streams, 
destroyed  the  pliant  and  absorbing  leaf  mould  of  the  forest,  which  was  the  arrester 
and  custodian  of  torrential  rainfalls  and  the  mother  of  rills  and  streams. 

"Is  it  possible  that  each  stratum  of  rocks  and  minerals  is  a  grave,  a  great 
tomb,  wherein  myriads  of  cenutries  ago  were  buried  the  remnants  of  animal  and 
vegetable  kind  ?  When  woodlands,  forest  trees,  shall  have  all  been  destroyed, 
together  with  subsidiary  vegetation,  every  living  thing  will  have  perished  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  Has  this  globe  at  some  time  in  the  unknowable,  prehistoric 
past,  subsisted  a  race  which  destroyed  its  forests,  and  then,  as  a  penalty,  perished? 
Is  the  present  tenantry  of  this  earth  destined  to  destroy  all  its  forests  and  trees 
and  thus  commit  universal  suicide?  The  intermission  of  the  foliage,  flower  and 
fruit  of  a  single  summer  would  bring  upon  every  human  being,  upon  all  animal 
organisms,  an  overwhelming  avalanche  of  death. 

"This  is  a  stupendous  truth.  It  admonishes  mankind  that  their  physical  and 
sanitary  protection  is  in  the  trees  and  forests,  which  conserve  the  rainfall,  mitigate 
the  heat  of  the  sun  and  make  possible  the  continuation  of  animal  life  and  the 
perpetuation  of  that  civilization  which  exalts  and  ennobles  the  human  race. 

"A  truth  and  a  tree  outlive  generations  of  men.  That  this  admirably  planned 
Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  may  plant  truths  as  to  the  economic  and  material 
resources  of  its  vast  and  opulent  empire  in  the  minds  of  the  tens  of  thousands 


334  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

of  intelligent  visitors  and  sojourners  who  may  attend  it,  with  as  cheerful  a  cer- 
tainty and  as  serene  a  satisfaction  as  we  experience  in  planting  these  trees  in  the 
never-deceiving,  never-disappointing  soil  of  this  fertile  Nebraska,  is  my  earnest 
hope  and  my  sincere  and  intense  desire." 

The  following  letters  were  received  and  read  at  a  banquet  tendered  to  Honor- 
able J.  Sterling  Morton  at  the  Omaha  Club,  April  22,  1897,  Arbor  Day,  the  date 
of  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  the  Arch  of  the  States. 

The  following  letter  of  regret  from  ex-President  Grover  Cleveland  was 
read : 

PRINCETON,  N.  J.,  April  16,  1897. 
Hon.  W.  D.  McHugh,.  Omaha. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  very  much  regret  that  my  other  engagements  will  not  permit  me  to 
attend  the  complimentary  dinner  to  be  given  to  the  Hon.  J.  Sterling  Morton  by  his  fellow- 
citizens  April  22. 

The  people  of  Nebraska  do  themselves  honor  in  thus  honoring  this  distinguished  citizen 
of  their  State.  He  deserves  honor  from  his  countrymen  everywhere  for  his  unfaltering 
devotion  to  their  interests  and  his  brave  resistance  to  every  attack  upon  the  honor  and 
integrity  of  his  country. 

With  the  best  possible  means  of  estimating  the  value  of  his  public  services,  I  recall 
with  greatest  satisfaction  and  gratitude  his  earnest  discharge  of  duty  and  his  solicitude  for 
the  public  good  during  a  time  when  time-servers  faltered  and  fell  by  the  wayside. 

Yours  truly, 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 

The  following  letter  from  Hon.  Richard  Olney  was  read : 

£OSTON,  April  16,  1897. 
Hon.  W.  D.  McHugh. 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  the  invitation  of  the  committee,  given  through  you,  to  be  present  on 
April  22  at  a  complimentary  dinner  tendered  by  his  friends  to  the  ex-Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, Hon.  J.  Sterling  Morton. 

It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  attend  if  it  were  within  my  power.  Having 
been  drawn  into  close  relations  with  Mr.  Morton  during  the  past  four  years,  am  not 
prepared  to  yield,  even  to  his  friends  and  fellow-citizens  of  Nebraska,  either  in  admiration 
of  him  as  an  official  or  in  regard  for  him  as  a  man.  Nebraska  has  a  right  to  be  proud 
of  him  as  a  cabinet  minister  of  rare  ability  and  thorough  disinterestedness  whose  valuable 
services,  by  no  means  limited  to  his  own  special  department,  have  laid  the  whole  country 
under  lasting  obligations. 

Regretting  that  I  must  forego  so  agreeable  an  occasion.  I  remain. 

Sincerely  yours, 

RICHARD  OLNEY. 

Letters  from  Hon.  Henry  Watterson,  editor  of  the  Louisville  Courier-Journal : 
Hon.  John  P.  Irish,  the  California  orator;  Hon.  John  d.  Carlisle,  ex-Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  Mr.  Carl  Morton,  son  of  the  honored  guest,  were  read  at 
the  banquet. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  335 

The  remarks  of  Gen.  Charles  F.  Manderson  in  response,  were  received 
with  marked  appreciation  by  the  banqueters.  The  General  said,  in  part : 

In  response  to  the  toast  "Our  Guest,"  at  this  banquet: 

"One  of  the  earliest  recollections  of  my  childhood  is  of  a  giant  tree,  in  the 
place  of  my  nativity,  on  the  bank  of  a  majestic  river,  which  took  its  placid  course 
to  the  near  sea.  It  stood  alone  in  its  vigorous  strength  and  attractive  beaut}', 
the  joy  of  all  who  looked  upon  it,  the  pride  of  those  who  claimed  in  it  a  possessory 
right.  It  had  braved  the  blasts  of  many  winters  and  had  withstood  the  attack 
of  the  thunderbolt  and  the  electric  flash.  Occasionally  it  would  be  smitten  by  the 
one  and  blasted  by  the  other,  but  it  seemed  to  come  out  of  every  conflict  with 
better  powers  and  greater  vigor  of  life  and  rapidity  of  growth.  Its  massive  roots 
had  taken  deep  hold  of  the  earth  of  its  home,  its  footing  made  the  more  secure 
by  tendrils  that  took  grasp  of  the  hidden  rock  and  buried  stone.  Its  mighty  trunk, 
gnarled  and  seamed,  had  borne  the  incision  of  many  a  knifeblade  of  generations 
of  men,  who  felt  the  inscription  of  initial,  or  of  name,  might  add  to  their  fame 
through  the  force  of  the  mere  association.  Its  spreading  boughs  had  formed  the 
bowerecl  home  of  many  a  sweet  singing  bird,  which  reared  its  young  and  sent  them 
forth  into  the  world  with  untried  wing.  Its  leafy  canopy  had  sheltered  man  and 
beast  from  the  wilting  sun  and  the  destroying  storm.  Towering  above  all  sur- 
roundings it  was  a  landmark  to  guide  the  wanderer.  With  verdure  clad,  it 
gladdened  the  sight.  It  stood  as  a  beneficence.  Its  life  was  a  benefaction.  Its 
memory  a  benediction. 

"The  recollection  of  it  came  to  me  most  vividly  today  as  I  listened  at  the 
Exposition  grounds  to  the  appropriate  words  of  our  guest  on  the  subject  of  for- 
estry. It  was  fitting  recollection  for  Arbor  Day  and  most  fitting  for  the  birthday  of 
the  strong,  vigorous,  aggressive,  many-sided,  sterling  man  who  honors  us  with  his 
presence.  It  symbolizes  his  life,  and  surely  no  better  symbol  could  be  found  or  one 
more  appropriate  to  the  founder  of  Arbor  Day,  than  one  of  that  great  Arboreal 
family  that  through  generations  yet  to  come  will  bend  their  tall  and  graceful 
heads  to  make  grateful  acknowledgment  and  willing  obeisance  to  the  virtues  and 
memory  of  the  man  whose  fertile  and  prolific  brain  conceived  the  best  possible  plan 
for  their  fostering  and  preservation.  All  hail  to  the  founder  of  the  most  promis- 
ing of  all  our  holidays !  All  others  commemorate  something  accomplished,  that 
which  is  finished ;  Arbor  Day — J.  Sterling  Morton's  birthday — gives  promise  of 
a  great  good  yet  to  come.  From  the  twig  is  to  come  the  tree.  From  the  promise 
and  hope  is  to  come  fruition  and  full  performance." 


336  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Next  in  order  of  the  historic  events  of  the  Exposition  and  the  first  of  the 
"Special  Days"  was 

OPENING   DAY  — JUNE    1,  1898 

An  outline  of  the  exercises  and  the  program  of  the  day  has  been  given  an 
appropriate  place  in  Chapter  III,  Part  I,  of  this  history. 

The    invocation    of    Rev.    Samuel   J.    Niccolls,   of    St.   Louis,    Mo.,    was   as 
follows : 

O  God,  uncreated  and  eternal  in  Thy  being,  Creator  and  Lord  of  all,  who  dost  uphold 
and  govern  all  in  infinite  power,  wisdom,  righteousness  and  goodness,  we  lift  up  our  hearts 
to  Thee  in  adoration  and  praise.  There  is  none  perfect  as  Thou  art.  We  rejoice  in  Thy 
sovereignty;  Thy  greatness  is  unsearchable.  The  Heavens  declare  Thy  glory,  and  the 
earth  is  full  of  the  tokens  of  Thy  goodness.  Thou  art  the  bounteous  giver  of  all  good,  the 
fountain  of  all  wisdom,  and  spirit  of  all  knowledge,  the  source  of  all  life  and  happiness.  We 
are  Thy  creatures,  utterly  dependent  upon  Thee;  without  Thee  we  have  no  wisdom  or 
strength  or  life  of  our  own. 

We  are  also  Thy  children,  made  in  Thy  image,  and  capable  of  sharing  Thy  life.  This 
honor  Thou  hast  given  us  and  hast  crowned  us  with  sovereignty  over  the  earth.  It  is  our 
privilege  to  call  Thee  our  Father  in  Heaven ;  unworthy  and  sinful  as  we  have  made  ourselves. 
Thou  hast  not  forsaken  us,  but  hast,  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  given  us  wisdom  and  understanding 
and  power.  Thou  dost  inspire  men  with  high  purposes  and  lead  them  to  execute  good  and 
great  designs,  so,  today,  in  this  hour  of  finished  labor,  we  would  not  glory  in  ourselves,  or  in 
the  work  of  our  hands,  but  only  in  Thee,  from  whom  came  the  wisdom  to  devise  and 
the  power  to  execute.  This  glory  of  human  achievement  which  surrounds  us  in  this  place, 
and  which  speaks  of  man's  skill  and  industry,  of  progress  in  knowledge  and  increase  in  power 
over  the  land  which  Thou  hast  given  us  for  our  inheritance  is  only  a  witness  and  a  memorial 
of  Thy  great  favor  towards  us.  When  we  remember  the  way  by  which  Thou  hast  led  us, 
and  from  what  to  what  we  have  come,  we  are  moved  to  cry  in  adoring  gratitude,  "Thou  hast 
not  dealt  so  with  any  nation."  Thou  art  the  God  of  our  fathers,  who  didst  lead  them  to 
this  western  world.  Thou  didst  keep  a  continent  hidden  until  the  fullness  of  time  came, 
when  Thou  didst  throw  open  its  gates  that  the  people  prepared  for  it,  and  of  Thy  own 
choice,  might  enter  in  and  possess  the  land.  In  it  Thou  hast  lifted  up  the  people  and 
established  a  nation  of  freemen.  Thine  hand  hast  led  us  marvelously  in  the  past,  and 
through  Thy  favor  we  are  crowned  with  riches  and  honor  and  might.  Our  eyes  have 
seen  the  wonders  which  thou  hast  wrought  in  our  midst,  so  that  this  day  the  aged  among 
us  stand  amazed  when  they  recall  the  past.  For  all  this  Exposition  represents,  for  the 
transfiguration  of  a  wilderness  into  fruitful  fields,  and  an  uninhabited  land  into  populous 
States,  for  progress  in  arts  and  manufactures,  for  the  fruits  of  the  field,  the  riches  of  the 
mines  and  the  abundance  of  the  forests,  for  growth  in  education,  refinement,  wealth  and 
the  comforts  of  life,  for  the  supremacy  of  law,  the  continuance  of  our  free  institutions  and 
the  bright  hopes  for  the  future,  we  give  Thee,  O  God,  our  most  hearty  and  grateful  thanks. 

Oh,  Gracious  Father,  whose  bounty  is  infinite,  grant  now  Thy  blessing,  we  entreat 
Thee,  upon  all  who  have  labored  for  the  establishment  and  completion  of  this  enterprise. 
May  what  they  have  done  be  owned  by  Thee  in  advancing  and  stimulating  all  the  arts 
of  peace,  and  in  promoting  the  progress  and  well-being  of  society.  Bless  the  city  within 
whose  gates  we  have  come.  May  peace  abide  within  its  walls,  and  prosperity  within  its 
palaces.  Bless  the  commonwealth  of  Nebraska,  and  let  Thy  favor  descend  upon  its  homes, 
even  as  the  rain  and  dews  upon  its  fields.  Bless  the  Governor  of  this  State  and  all 
associated  with  him  in  authority  and  counsel.  We  pray  Thee,  also,  in  behalf  of  our 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  337 

common  country.  Remember  Thy  servant,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  his  Cabinet, 
Thy  servants  in  Congress  assembled,  and  all  who  bear  rule  in  the  several  States  of  this 
nation,  grant  unto  them  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  counsel,  strengthen  them  for  any  good 
work  and  make  them  faithful  in  all  things  to  Thy  holy  law,  so  that  they  may  lead  the 
people  in  righteousness.  While  we  pray  for  the  land  we  love,  we  would  remember  before 
Thee  all  nations  and  rulers,  especially  those  who  are  represented  in  this  Exposition.  Grant 
thy  blessing  to  Queen  Victoria  and  all  her  subjects,  to  the  President  of  the  Republic  of 
Mexico  and  all  whom  he  represents.  May  they  be  led  by  Thy  good  Spirit  in  all  things, 
and  may  peace  and  good-will  abide  and  grow  deeper  and  stronger  between  them  and  us. 

'Oh,  God  of  our  fathers,  ruler  of  nations,  while  we  celebrate  the  triumph  of  peace, 
we  remember  that  the  shadow  of  war  is  upon  our  land,  and  that  the  sound  of  conflict  smites 
our  ears.  We  earnestly  .pray  that  it  may  please  Thee  speedily  to  restore  peace,  and  to 
hasten  the  day  when,  under  the  reign  of  righteousness  and  love,  all  wars  shall  cease.  But  if, 
as  we  believe,  Thou  hast  called  us  to  take  the  sword  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  the  helpless 
and  oppressed,  and  to  set  free  our  brothers  from  their  bondage,  then  make  us  strong  to 
serve  Thee  and  defend  us  in  the  day  of  battle.  Bless  the  army  and  the  navy ;  shield  them 
from  all  perils  by  land  or  by  sea,  and  grant  them  victory,  which  is  in  Thy  hand.  Oh, 
Gracious  God,  most  bountiful  benefactor,  our  hearts  are  this  day  lifted  up  in  hope,  and 
Thou  dost  make  us  bold  to  ask  the  continuance  of  Thy  favors  and  larger  blessings  for 
the  future.  Thou  hast  redeemed  the  region  in  which  we  dwell  from  savage  rule,  and  hast 
given  its  abundance  into  our  hands.  The  wilderness,  where  once  Thy  image  was  defiled 
by  ignorance  and  superstition,  has  been  filled  with  happy  homes  purified  by  Thy  word ; 
Thy  temples  stand  on  every  side,  and  Thy  people  sing  Thy  praise.  But  surely  Thou  hast 
not  brought  us  so  far  on  our  way  only  to  leave  us.  Abide  with  us;  grant  us  more  of  Thy 
light  and  truth,  and  make  us  faithful  in  all  things  to  Thy  holy  law,  so  that  through  our 
obedience  to  Thee,  we  may  be  known  as  that  people  where  God  is  the  Lord.  Multiply 
peace  and  prosperity  among  us.  Lift  up  the  poor  and  cast  down  the  proud.  Rebuke  vice 
and  oppression,  cast  down  the  wicked  and  defeat  their  plans.  Make  righteousness  to 
flourish,  truth  to  be  established,  and  brotherly  love  to  prevail  in  all  our  burdens.  All  this 
we  humbly  ask  in  the  name  of  Him,  who  has  taught  us  to  pray,  saying  "Our  Father  which 
art  in  Heaven ;  hallowed  be  Thy  name ;  Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done,  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  Heaven.;  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,  and  forgive  our  debts  as  we  forgive 
our  debtors;  and  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil;  for  Thine  is  the 
kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  forever.  Amen." 

ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT    WATTLES 

"The  Trans-Mississippi  and  Internationa]  Exposition  is  a  reality  today  only 
by  virtue  of  the  pluck  and  energy  and  enterprise  of  the  people  of  the  country  it 
represents.  Amid  the  financial  depression  of  the  greatest  panic  of  recent  years, 
amid  the  gloom  of  doubt  and  distress  which  followed  this  panic,  the  first  steps 
were  taken  in  this  great  enterprise. 

"Against  the  advice  of  many  of  our  most  conservative  citizens,  and  the 
prophecy  of  failure  by  some,  the  work  was  begun.  During  its  early  stages  there 
were  many  discouragements,  but  when  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  recog- 
nized the  Exposition  as  worthy  of  its  encouragement  and  support,  all  doubts  were 
dispelled  and  the  people  of  this  community,  and  of  the  entire  West,  rose  above 
the  calamities  of  the  hour  and  united  in  the  work  with  an  energy  which  assured 
success. 


338  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"But  these  beautiful  grounds  and  buildings  have  not  been  prepared  and  filled 
with  the  choicest  specimens  of  the  products  of  the  world  by  chance.  This  work 
represents  many  weary  months  of  toil,  many  discouragements  and  vicissitudes, 
but  a  final  triumph  worthy  of  the  men  who  have  given  it  their  best  thought  and 
energy.  This,  the  opening  day,  crowns  their  work  with  an  adequate  reward. 
We  see  the  results  of  their  efforts  in  this  magnificent  spectacle  of  architectural 
beauty  and  grandeur,  commanding  the  admiration  and  attention  of  the  world. 

"This  Exposition  celebrates  no  single  event  in  the  history  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  country.  This  history  for  the  period  of  a  single  generation  past 
reveals  a  succession  of  achievements,  any  one  of  which  might  properly  be  the 
subject  of  a  great  demonstration  of  this  character. 

"Fifty  years  ago  the  larger  part  of  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
was  unorganized  territory,  and  was  indicated  on  the  map  as  the  Great  American 
Desert.  Its  arid  plains  and  unexplored  mountains  were  occupied  by  savage  tribes, 
and  there  herds  of  antelope  and  buffalo  roamed,  unmolested  by  the  white  man,  in 
solitude  unbroken  by  the  implements  of  civilization. 

"No  railroad  had  been  constructed  west  of  the  Missouri  River.  But  one  city 
of  more  than  50,000  population  had  been  built  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  total 
population  of  this  vast  domain,  comprising  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  area  of 
the  United  States,  was  less  than  2,000,000,  and  more  than  three-fourths  of  this 
population  was  in  three  States  on  its  southeastern  border. 

"The  city  of  Omaha  had  not  been  founded.  The  resources  on  which  this 
city  depends  for  its  great  commerce  today  were  undeveloped.  Gold  had  just 
been  discovered  in  California,,  and  the  march  of  civilization  toward  the  West  had 
hardly  begun. 

"Fifty  years  is  within  the  memory  of  many  here  present,  but  what  a  change 
has  been  wrought  in  this  region !  Within  its  borders  are  now  twenty  States  and 
four  territories,  with  a  population  of  more  than  twenty  millions ;  wealth  double 
that  of  Spain  and  Portugal  combined,  and  an  internal  commerce  greater  than 
the  foreign  commerce  of  Germany,  France  and  Great  Britain. 

"The  Great  American  Desert  is  no  more.  Its  eastern  part  is  covered  with 
fertile  farms,  which  produced  last  year  more  than  a  thousand  million  bushels  of 
corn  and  five  hundred  million  bushels  of  wheat  which,  with  the  other  agricultural 
products  of  this  section,  were  sold  for  more  than  eleven  hundred  million  dollars 
The  western  part  of  this  desert  now  forms  the  pasture  of  the  nation.  On  its 
nutritious  grasses  feed  the  herds  which  supply  the  meat  to  the  markets  of  the 
world. 

"In  1850  the  buffalo  which  roamed  over  this  region  outnumbered  the  cattle 
in  the  United  States.  In  1895  there  were  thirty  million  cattle  and  fifty  million 
hogs  and  sheep  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the  value  of  the  yearly  product 
of  these  herds  is  four  hundred  million  dollars,  or  nearly  equal  in  value  to  the 
annual  output  of  the  gold  and  silver  mines  throughout  the  world. 

"Nor  does  the  grain  and  stock  of  this  country  comprise  its  only  products. 
The  fruit  and  wine  of  California  and  Oregon,  the  forests  of  Washington.  Mimu  - 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


339 


sota  and  Arkansas,  the  sugar  of  Louisiana,  Utah  and  Nebraska,  and  the  cotton  of 
the  Southeastern  States,  furnish  no  small  part  of  its  yearly  commerce.  But  its 
mines  must  not  be  overlooked.  From  them  has  been  taken  in  paying  quantities 
every  known  mineral.  The  copper,  iron  and  coal  already  discovered  would  supply 
the  markets  of  the  world  for  a  century  to  come.  The  surface  of  the  mountains 
and  hills  has  hardly  been  prospected,  but  the  richest  and  most  extensive  gold  and 
silver  mines  in  the  world  have  been  discovered.  From  them  has  been  produced 
in  the  past  fifty  years  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  the  Government  debt  at  the  close 
of  the  Rebellion,  and  their  annual  output  now  amounts  to  more  than  a  hundred 
million  dollars. 

"The  caravan  of  prairie  schooners,  requiring  six  months  of  hardship  and  dan- 
ger to  travel  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  coast,  has  been  displaced  by  the 
overland  express,  with  palace  cars  provided  with  all  the  conveniences  of  home, 
which    travel   the    distance    in   thirty-three   hours. 
No  less  than  80,000  miles  of  railroad  have  been 
constructed  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  country  dur- 
ing  the   last  fifty  years,   at  the   fabulous   cost  of 
more  than  two  thousand  million  dollars.     Towns 
and    villages    have    sprung    into    existence    along 
these  roads  as  by  magic.     Great  cities  have  been 
built,    commercial    relations    established    with    all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  manufacturing  has  assumed 
enormous  proportions. 

"Surely,  with  all  these  achievements  during 
the  short  space  of  half  a  century,  we  might  well 
celebrate  the  growth  and  development  unparalleled 
in  history.  But,  looking  to  the  future  rather  than 
to  the  past,  the  commercial  congress  which  author- 
ized this  Exposition  wisely  conceived  its  objects 
to  be  the  advancement  of  the  commercial  interests  of  the  West  rather  than  the 
celebration  of  any  of  its  past  achievements. 

"We  have  gathered  here  in  these  beautiful  buildings  and  on  these  grounds 
some  of  the  resources  of  this  vast  country,  and  have  invited  our  Eastern  neighbors 
and  foreign  friends  to  bring  their  products  and  come  with  their  citizens  to  be 
our  guests  and  here  study  with  us  the  lessons  of  the  future  which  these  evidences 
of  our  past  of  progress  teach.  If  the  exhibition  here  made  of  the  resources  of 
this  new  country  should  demonstrate  that  greater  prosperity  and  happiness  could 
be  found  within  its  borders  for  many  who  now  live  in  less-favored  climes,  the 
purpose  of  this  Exposition  would  be  accomplished. 

"With  a  history  that  has  hardly  been  written,  but  which  records  greater 
growth  and  more  important  changes  than  has  been  made  in  any  other  country 
on  earth  in  five  hundred  years  of  its  life ;  with  natural  resources  unequaled  in 
value,  variety  and  extent ;  with  a  climate  which  inspires  the  greatest  mental  and 
physical  activity ;  with  a  people  composed  of  the  best  elements  of  all  nations  who 


Gurdon  W.  Wattles 


340  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

have  broken  the  ties  which  bound  them  to  the  homes  of  their  fathers,  and  have 
wrested  this  country  from  savage  life ;  with  all  these  advantages  and  achievements, 
what  can  we  prophesy  for  the  future  generation,  and  who  will  attempt  to  limit 
the  possibilities  of  a  people  who  have  accomplished  such  wonders  in  the  past? 

"This  magnificent  Exposition,  illustrating  the  products  of  our  soil  and  mines 
and  factories,  made  possible  by  the  inventions  of  the  last  century,  will  pale  into 
insignificance  at  the  close  of  the  twentieth  century.  When  the  agricultural 
resources  of  this  rich  country  are  fully  developed  by  the  use  of  its  rivers  and 
streams  for  irrigation  ;  when  the  sugar,  as  well  as  the  bread  and  meat  for  the 
markets  of  the  world  shall  be  produced  here  and  carried  to  the  markets  by  the 
electric  forces  of  nature ;  when  the  minerals  in  our  mountains  and  the  gold  and 
silver  in  our  mines  shall  be  extracted  and  utilized  by  this  same -force:  when  our 
natural  products  shall  be  manufactured  here,  then  this  Trans-Mississippi  country 
will  support  a  population  in  peace  and  plenty  greater  than  the  present  population 
of  any  other  nation  in  the  world. 

"When  we  consider  that  the  British  Empire,  exclusive  of  its  colonies, 
embraces  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand  square  miles,  that  the 
civilization  of  Egypt  was  supported  on  less  than  ten  thousand  square  miles,  and 
that  with  the  same  density  of  population  as  the  State  of  Ohio  this  country  would 
provide  homes  for  three  hundred  million  people,  we  can  appreciate  the  possi- 
bilities which  the  future  has  in  store  in  this,  the  richest  part  of  the  world's  domain. 

"Standing  at  the  close  of  a  century  teeming  with  great  discoveries  and  inven- 
tions, which  have  elevated  the  civilization  of  the  world  to  a  higher  plane  than 
ever  before,  surrounded  with  such  evidences  of  the  past  progress  and  future 
possibilities  of  this  country,  who  can  prophesy  its  future  greatness,  and  who  can 
estimate  the  influence  of  this  Exposition  in  accelerating  its  development  ? 

"Like  a  great  beacon  light  it  sends  its  rays  throughout  the  land  and  challenges 
the  attention  of  the  world.  To  the  homeless  millions  of  less-favored  lands  it  is 
a  messenger  of  promise.  To  the  weary  mariner  whose  fortunes  have  been 
wrecked  on  the  seas  of  adversity  it  is  a  harbinger  of  hope.  It  opens  new  fields 
to  the  investor,  inspires  the  ambition  of  the  genius,  incites  the  emulation  of  States, 
and  stands  the  crowning  glory  in  the  history  of  the  West." 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  JOHN  L.  WEBSTER 

"We  meet  today  amid  surroundings  that  excite  the  most  lively  imagination 
and  rouse  the  dullest  sensibilities.  Entrancing  and  bewitching  scenes  are  all  about 
us.  The  best  that  architecture  could  plan  and  that  skill  could  construct  and  that 
art  could  decorate  and  adorn,  make  up  the  exterior  of  this,  the  most  unique 
Exposition  ever  witnessed  on  the  American  continent. 

"These  mighty  structures  stand  where  fifty  years  ago  were  clustered  tepees 
of  the  Omaha  Indians.  Then  the  silence  of  this  place  was  disturbed  only  by  the 
Indian  war-sound,  by  the  revelry  of  the  Indian  dance,  and  the  prairies  rang  with 
no  sound  but  the  war-whoop  of  the  aborigine.  Today  it  is  surrounded  by  twenty 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


341 


thousand  buildings,  the  homes  of  150,000  people,  who  are  the  members  of  the 
rich  commercial  city  of  Omaha. 

"Hut  this  is  not  an  Exposition  for  our  city,  or  for  our  State.  We  are  part 
and  parcel  of  the  great  Trans-Mississippi  country,  a  country  extending  from  the 
River  on  the  east,  which  DeSoto  discovered,  westward  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  and 
from  the  Mexican  republic  on  the  south  to  the  British  possessions  on  the  north — 
a  country  with  more  than  fifteen  million  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  people.  It  is  a 
country  now  divided  into  States  and  territories,  each  large  enough  for  an  empire, 
with  resources  unparalleled,  with  soil  unexcelled,  and  with  capabilities  immeasure- 
able.  It  is  the  granary  and  market-house  of  the  world.  To  borrow  a  thought 
from  Edmund  Burke :  'The  scarcity  which  the  empires  and  kingdoms  have  many 
times  felt  would  have  been  a  desolating  famine  if  this  child  of  their  old  age,  with 
a  true  filial  piety,  with  a  Roman  charity,  had  not  put  the  breast  of  its  youthful 
exuberance  to  the  mouth  of  its  exhausted  parents.' 

"On  this  spot  the  vast  resources  and  mighty  wealth  of  this  extensive  Trans- 
Mississippi   territory   are   today   put   on   exhibition,   not   so    much    for   our   own 
instruction  and  entertainment  as  that  the  rest  of 
mankind  may  come  and  see  for  themselves,  look 
on    with   a   startled   amazement   and   depart    with 
astonishment  and  wonder. 

"But  we  are  not  a  selfish  nor  a  sectional  peo- 
ple. We  are  a  part  of  a  rich,  commercial  nation. 
We  know  but  one  constitution,  but  one  country, 
but  one  flag.  We  have  opened  the  doors  of  the 
Exposition  to  all  our  fellow-citizens  and  received 
the  products  and  exhibits  of  all  the  States,  which 
gives  it  a  truly  national  character". 

"We  are  cosmopolitan  people  and  extended 
the  scope  of  the  enterprise  until  it  becomes  inter- 
national in  character.  Canada  upon  the  north, 
and  the  republics  of  South  America,  are  here 
mingling  with  us.  Exhibitors  from  various 
countries  in  Europe  are  here,  vying  with  each  other  in  their  efforts  to  sell.  Here 
may  be  seen  the  Italian,  who  walks  the  streets  where  Caesar's  legions  once  trod ; 
the  Greek  from  the  classic  land  where  Athens  was,  and  where  the  Spartans  won 
an  unfading  historic  fame.  Here  are  a  dusky  people  with  their  camels,  from  the 
deserts  of  Arabia.  Here  are  Turks  from  that  land  whose  people  bow  in  prayer 
at  the  voice  of  the  priest  from  the  minaret. 

"Then,  too,  we  welcome  the  Asiatics  from  the  western  shores  of  the  Pacific. 
Here  is  the  Mongolian  race  from  the  Chinese  Empire,  which  traces  its  dynasty 
back  through  the  fabulous  ages.  Here  are  exhibitors  from  Japan — that  country 
which  in  our  day  has  taken  a  mighty  leap  in  advance,  and  is  now  recognized  as 
one  of  the  commercial  and  naval  powers  of  the  world.  It  is  this  Exposition,  so 
grand  in  conception,  so  broad  in  purpose  and  so  comprehensive  in  character,  that 


John  L.  Webster 


342  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

is  this  day  thrown  open  to  the  throng  here  present,  and  which  extends  a  hearty 
welcome  to  the  millions  who  shall  visit  it. 

"To  build  these  immense  palaces  of  beauty  we  have  drawn  from  the  past  as 
well  as  the  present.  We  have  studied  the  artistic  among  all  people  and  in  all 
countries.  In  architecture  we  have  drawn  from  whatever  was  the  most  beautiful 
in  Gothic,  whatever  was  most  refined  in  classic,  whatever  was  most  desirable  in 
Grecian  and  whatever  was  most  noble  in  Roman,  and  supplemented  and  improved 
them  with  the  most  artistic  conceptions  of  the  present  age,  and  the  result  we  see 
before  us  is  a  realistic  picture  of  a  fairy  scene. 

"This  decorative  statuary  is  not  the  fruit  of  a  day,  the  birth  of  an  hour.  It 
is  the  present  imprint  of  an  art  which  had  its  supreme  revival  in  the  Moses  of 
Michael  Angelo,  and  Titian's  Tomb  by  Canova.  The  figures  which  these  sculp- 
tors chiseled  from  the  marble  were  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  of  art  and  have  left 
an  impression  on  the  centuries  which  have  come  after  them.  Out  of  die  fulfillment 
of  that  art  American  skill  has  decorated  these  buildings  with  forms  of  grace  and 
of  beauty,  which  express  the  taste  and  refinement  of  this  age. 

"Within  the  walls  of  these  beautiful  buildings,  one  may  wander  in  a 
bewildered  maze  of  exhibits.  There  will  be  found  the  best  and  richest  productions 
of  American  soil — cotton  from  the  vast  plantations  of  Louisiana  and  Mississippi, 
ripened  grain  from  the  wheat  fields  of  Minnesota,  Washington  and  Oregon,  and 
the  golden  king  of  corn  from  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  'There  may  be  seen  the 
woods  and  finished  lumber  culled  from  the  pine  forests  of  Michigan,  and  the  high 
towering  trees  of  the  Columbia  River.  There  may  be  seen  minerals — copper 
from  the  Anaconda,  and  silver  and  gold  which  the  energy  of  our  mountain 
pioneers  have  delved  from  beneath  the  Rockies  and  Sierras.  There  will  be  seen 
the  skilled  handiwork  of  the  mechanic  and  artisan,  and  in  Machinery  Hall  the 
perfected  result  of  what  was  once  an  inventor's  dream.  Without  this  circle  is 
gathered  evidences  of  the  toil,  of  the  prosperity,  and  of  the  refinement  of  seventy 
millions  of  industrial  people  who  have  brought  America  to  its  present  high 
standard  of  national  supremacy. 

"The  Government  building  at  the  west  end  of  the  lagoon,  with  its  long 
colonnades  and  high  shining  dome,  supporting  the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  stands  as 
the  emblem  of  power  and  strength  and  majesty  of  this  republic.  It  speaks  for  the 
greatness  of  our  nation,  the  realization  of  what  John  Bright  once  said:  T  see 
one  vast  confederation  stretching  from  the  frozen  north  in  unbroken  line  to  the 
glowing  south,  and  from  the  wild  billows  of  the  Atlantic  westward  to  the  calmer 
waters  of  the  Pacific  main,  and  I  see  one  people  and  one  law  and  one  language 
and  one  faith,  and  over  all  that  wide  continent  the  home  of  freedom,  and  a  refuge 
for  the  oppressed  of  every  race  and  of  every  clime.' 

"We  have  reached  the  condition  pictured  by  John  Bright,  and  we  have 
passed  beyond  it.  Our  commerce  envelops  the  seas,  and  our  navy  is  in  the  flush 
of  victory.  Our  grasp  is  on  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  our  gallant  Dewey  holds 
the  Philippines. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  343 

"The  nation's  future  which  John  Bright  saw  falls  short  of  the  future  we  see 
today.  We  are  amazed  at  our  own  growth  since  the  days  of  Washington  and 
Jefferson  to  our  present  invincible  power.  We  are  now  on  the  high  vantage 
ground  where  we  can  look  forward  to  the  fulfillment  of  American  destiny.  The 
present  is  already  a  realized  dream  and  the  brightness  of  the  future  is  stronger 
than  a  vision. 

"To  know  the  present  let  me  draw  a  contrast  from  the  past.  Marcus  Aurelius 
ruled  over  Rome  at  the  closing  of  its  golden  period.  His  victories  in  war  and 
achievements  in  peace  classed  him,  in  the  minds  of  Romans,  with  Caesar  and 
Augustus.  In  a  plaza  at  Rome  there  was  erected  a  high,  towering  monument 
to  his  memory.  Circling  around  the  column  from  the  base  to  the  capital  the 
historic  scenes  and  incidents  of  his  career  were  carved  and  chiseled  in  the 
solid  marble. 

"That  column  still  stands,  browned  by  the  centuries  that  have  rolled  by 
since  its  construction.  It  stands  not  alone  as  a  relic  of  antiquity,  but  as  an  his- 
toric monument  of  an  age  when  civilization,  linked  with  all  that  makes  a  nation 
great  and  powerful,  was  in  eastern  Europe,  and  when  one  man  ruled  the  farthest 
known  portions  of  the  world  to  the  confines  of  the  western  sea.  At  the  side  of 
the  square  close  by  is  a  high  and  gray  colored  building,  and  along  in  front  in 
blazoned  letters  is  the  name  of  an  American  insurance  company. 

"There  is  a  singular  linking  together  by  way  of  contrast  of  the  changed  con- 
ditions of  seventeen  hundred  years.  If  Marcus  Aurelius  could  come  forth  from 
his  long  slumber  his  eye  would  rest  on  that  monument  on  which,  is  recorded  the 
deeds  of  Rome's  greatness  and  grandeur  and  he  would  see  that  Imperial  City 
mouldy  with  age  and  its  magnificent  structures  crumbling  into  ruins.  When  he 
looked  on  the  assembled  multitudes  he  could  not  see  the  legions  of  old  that 
marched  under  his  command.  He  would  see  a  new  people  and  hear  a  new 
language.  If  he  inquired  what  had  wrought  this  great  change,  he  would  find  (hat 
civilization,  in  its  onward  course  and  westward  march,  had  discovered  a  new 
continent  beyond  the  sea.  That  a  new  race  of  people  with  a  new  language  had 
built  up  a  mighty  republic  of  seventy  millions  of  people,  where  industry  had 
an  open  field,  where  science  had  made  new  discoveries,  where  literature  and 
art  and  refinement  were  the  common  property  of  all  her  citizens.  That  this  new 
people,  with  characteristic  energy  and  enterprise,  were  insuring  the  lives  of  the 
lazzaroni. 

''The  scene  thus  presented  to  Marcus  Aurelius  would  be  more  astonishing 
to  him  than  were  the  lines  upon  the  wall  which  were  interpreted  to  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. Yet  this  Trans-Mississippi  country  has  developed  more  and  accomplished 
more  in  the  last  fifty  years  than  was  worked  out  in  the  seventeen  centuries  that 
marked  the  space  of  time  between  the  ages  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  the  planting 
of  this  western  civilization  which  this  Exposition  is  builded  to  commemorate. 

"To  judge  of  the  future,  let  us  draw  another  lesson  from  the  past:  The 
earliest  civilization  had  its  habitation  in  western  Asia,  in  Palestine  and  Assyria. 
It  joined  hands  with  trade  and  commerce  as  time  rolled  by  and  left  Babylon  and 


344  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Nineveh  in  ruins,  and  took  up  its  abode  in  Egypt  and  northern  Africa.  Later 
on  it  left  the  land  of  the  sphynx  and  pyramids  and  took  up  its  abode  in  Greece, 
the  land  that  became  famous  by  the  sculpture  of  Praxiteles,  by  the  matchless 
oratory  of  Demosthenes,  by  the  wisdom  and  philosophy  of  Socrates  and  Plato,  and 
by  the  statesmanship  of  Pericles  and  Phocion ;  the  land  whose  patriotism  made 
the  names  Thermopylae  and  Marathon  synonymous  with  all  that  is  daring  and 
brave  and  glorious  in  war. 

"Time  rolled  on  and  civilization,  with  its  companions,  trade  and  commerce, 
left  this  land  of  charming  scenes  and  bewitching  history  and  passed  westward 
across  the  Adriatic  to  imperial  Rome.  From  the  age  of  Caesar  and  Augustus 
to  the  time  of  Constantine,  Rome  ruled  the  old  world,  but  civilization  traveled 
westward  until  it  reached  the  confines  of  Europe,  where  the  ocean  seemed  a 
barrier,  and  stayed  its  progress  for  fourteen  long  centuries.  Rome  crumbled  into 
ruins,  Brussels  and  Antwerp  and  Paris  and  London  became  the  commercial  cen- 
ters. Italy  broke  into  dukedoms  and  provinces,  and  England,  France  and  Germany 
became  the  ruling  nations  of  Europe.  Civilization,'  urged  on  by  its  companions, 
trade  and  commerce,  like  a  man  of  nervous  energy  and  restless  ambition,  found 
a  way  to  cross  the  ocean,  and  the  new  continent  of  America  was  discovered. 
They  crossed  the  stormy  waters  of  the  sea  and  made  their  new  home  in  this 
western  hemisphere.  Here  our  nation  has  grown  up  and  the  scepter  of  supremacy 
has  passed  from  the  old  world  to  the  new.  In  the  fulfillment  of  our  destiny,  and 
to  hold  trade  and  commerce  within  our  grasp,  we  have  to  work  out  the  problem 
of  universal  civilization.  We  may  have  to  join  hands  with  the  great  powers  of 
Europe  to  compass  the  trade  of  western  Asia,  and  bring  it  across  the  Pacific  into 
the  harbor  of  Puget  Sound,  and  through  the  Golden  Gate. 

"We  are  an  international  nation ;  Europe  is  on  the  east  of  us,  and  Asia  is  on 
the  west  of  us.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  of  the  far  East,  it  is  a  question  of  the 
West.  In  the  southern  waters  of  the  Pacific  is  Australia,  practically  a  newly 
discovered  country.  The  Anglo-Saxon  people  are  already  there.  It  is  like  a 
newly  risen  sun  in  the  southwestern  waters,  whose  foreign  commercial  trade  of 
more  than  six  hundred  millions  of  dollars  per  year  demands  our  most  considerate 
attention. 

"There,  too,  at  our  western  door  is  Japan,  already  a  great  commercial  nation, 
and  with  a  navy  that  takes  first  rank  with  the  modern  sphynxes  of  war  which 
float  in  Pacific  waters.  There,  too,  is  China.  Russia  has  crossed  that  territory 
with  a  line  of  railroad  whose  depot  stands  fronting  the  surf-line  of  the  western 
ocean,  and  her  flag  floats  over  Port  Arthur.  England,  Germany  and  France 
have  their  navies  floating  in  their  waters  and  their  flags  flying  in  her  fortified 
harbors.  China  is  about  to  awake  from  her  hibernating  sleep  of  four  thousand 
years.  Her  four  hundred  millions  of  people  are  to  become  the  consumers  of 
American  products  and  the  patrons  of  American  commerce.  Who  can  say  that 
within  the  next  fifty  years  the  commercial  trade  of  the  Pacific  shall  not  take 
supremacy  over  the  commercial  trade  of  the  Atlantic?  May  not  this  Exposition 
mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  prosperity,  when  the  commerce  of  Europe 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  345 

and  of  Asia  shall  find  their  race  course  across  this  mid-continent  and  pour  out 
their  wealth  to  overflowing  in  this  Trans-Mississippi  country. 

"A  month  ago  it  was  a  serious  question  whether  the  war  with  Spain  would 
not  injure  this  Exposition,  but  within  a  month  it  has  become  an  accentuation  of 
the  expansive  power  of  the  American  nation.  A  month  ago  the  American  people 
were  disposed  to  cling  to  the  traditional  policy  of  isolation ;  today  they  receive 
with  patriotic  enthusiasm  the  doctrine  of  annexation  and  of  conquest.  A  month 
ago  the  Philippines  were  in  the  far  East ;  today  they  are  in  the  nearer  West. 

"Emilio  Castelar  said  to  the  Spanish  Cortez,  twenty-seven  years  ago,  words 
which  in  these  days  of  rapid  change  breathe  the  spirit  of  prophecy :  'America,  and 
especially  Saxon  America,  with  its  immense  virgin  territories,  with  its  republic, 
with  its  equilibrium  between  stability  and  progress,  with  its  harmonies  between 
liberty  and  democracy,  is  the  continent  of  the  future,  the  immense  continent 
stretched  by  God  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  where  mankind  may  essay 
and  resolve  all  social  problems.  Europe  is  to  decide  whether  she  will  confound 
herself  with  Asia,  placing  upon  her  lands  old  altars  and  upon  the  altars  old  idols, 
and  upon  the  idols  plutocracies  and  upon  the  plutocracies  empires,  or  whether 
she  will  collaborate  with  America  in  the  grand  work  of  human  civilization.' 

"Spain  heeded  not  his  voice.  She  has  not  taken  part  with  America  in  the 
grand  work  of  civilization.  She  has  clung  to  her  old  idols  and  her  despotic 
empire.  In  this,  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  she  carried  to  the  beautiful 
Island  of  Cuba  the  cruel  and  relentless  warfare  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

"Our  Saxon  civilization,  of  which  Castelar  spoke,  entered  its  protest  against 
the  barbarism  of  the  Middle  Ages  being  transplanted  to  this  island  of  the  western 
hemisphere,  and  determined  to  eradicate  it  by  the  severe  arbitrament  of  war.  It 
is  our  high  standard  of  civilization,  our  love  of  liberty,  our  sympathy  with  suffer- 
ing humanity,  our  regard  for  national  honor,  that  has  brought  us  to  the  initial 
point  where  we  must  solve  questions  of  national  policy  and  which  we  are  to  settle 
for  future  ages  before  the  present  century  shall  close. 

"A  month  ago  the  Sandwich  Islands  seemed  too  remote  an  object  for  the 
grasp  of  national  ambition.  They  have  now  become  a  resting  place  for  the 
American  army  in  its  race  across  the  Pacific  to  give  aid  and  assistance  to  our 
navy  in  the  Philippines  and  to  make  complete  the  conquest  of  Admiral  Dewey, 
whose  victory  at  Manila  is  the  wonder  of  the  age  and  the  marvel  of  the  seas. 

"Yonder  Administration  building  is  supported  by  four  open  arches,  looking 
toward  the  four  points  of  the  compass.  They  are  emblematic  of  the  thought  that 
this  Exposition  stands  in  the  center  of  the  American  republic,  and  that  the  people 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  country,  through  those  gateways,  are  ready  to  welcome 
the  commerce  and  trade  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  which  shall  make 
us  the  greatest,  the  happiest  and  the  most  prosperous  people  in  the  world." 


346 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  JOHN  N.  BALDWIN 

"Man  delights  in  retrospection  and  indulges  in  anticipation.  The  faithful 
historian  never  lacks  appreciative  audiences,  for  the  dullest  eye  must  lighten 
and  the  most  sluggish  pulse  quicken  at  the  recital  of  the  trials  and  triumphs  of 
the  past.  Neither  is  a  prophet  without  honor,  even  in  his  own  country,  when  to 
listeners,  whose  hopes  and  aims  are  one  with  his,  he  predicts  a  glorious  future. 
"But  the  critic  of  existing  institutions  treads  no  primrose  path.  Unless  care- 
fully guarded  in  expression  he  will  damn  with  faint  praise,  disgust  with  fulsome 
flattery,  or  awaken  jealousy  by  unfavorable  comparison.  In  all  ages  there  are 
those  who  insist  that  the  present  time  is  sick  and  out  of  joint ;  that  there  is  nothing 
in  the  present  like  unto  the  past ;  and  that  whatever  is,  is  not  comparable  with 
what  is  to  be. 

"Fortunately  for  the  progress  of  the  world,  those  who  revel  in  rehearsals 
and  venture  so  much  in  prophecy  have  not  been  in  the  majority ;  only  sufficient 

in  number  to  disturb  and  impede.  It  is  sad  to  say, 
but  it  must  be  said,  that,  in  our  own  time,  there 
are  so  many  individuals  who  insist  that  there  is 
no  progress  today  except  in  mechanics. 

"They  croak  and  cry,  'It  is  simply  the  time  of 
steam,  steel  and  starvation.'  Like  puny  whispers 
they  pull  their  pencils  to  write,  'The  State  in  dan- 
ger.' They  declare  and  resolve  that  governments 
are  so  drawn  and  trussed  that  for  the  few  there  is 
plethoric  plenty  while  the  many  starve.  They 
philosophize  that  this  is  an  age  of  machinery,  not 
an  heroical,  devotional,  philosophical  or  moral  age. 
"These  contentions  and  opinions  impose  upon 
the  thoughtful,  intelligent  and  progressive  men  of 
the  time,  who  believe  that  the  present  is  better  than 
the  past  and  promises  more  for  the  future,  the 
task  of  denial  of  assertion  and  of  proof,  to  deny  and  assert  is  easy.  To  prove 
requires  organization  and  labor.  In  their  efforts  to  arouse  men  to  more  glorious 
triumphs,  they  met  with  many  difficulties.  'Happy  men  are  full  of  the  present, 
for  its  bounty  suffices  them ;  and  wise  men  also,  for  its  duties  engage  them.'  The 
busy  man  would  say,  'With  me  it  is  what  I  eat,  where  shall  I  drink,  my  body,  and 
what  shall  it  put  on?'  The  iconoclastic  man,  'Do  not  talk  about  our  achievements. 
It  is  better  to  listen  forever  than  to  brag.'  Among  these  and  many  others  the 
opinion  prevails  that  there  are  two  classes  of  lies — common  lies  and  statistics. 
'Give  us  proofs,'  they  say,  'outward  signs  and  tokens.' 

"In  vain  did  they  plead,  as  did  the  wise  men  of  old,  'Say  not  thou,  what  is  the 
cause  that  the  former  days  were  better  than  these?  For  thou  dost  not  inquire 
wisely  concerning  this.' 


John  N.  Baldwin 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  347 

"From  out  these  discussions,  controversies  and  opinions  evolved  the  idea  of 
an  Exposition.  Tested,  it  has  been  found  to  be  practical  and  promotive.  The 
Exposition  is  an  item  of  evidence.  It  goes  to  prove  not  only  what  has  been  done, 
but  what  may  be  accomplished.  It  is  an  eye-witness  and  an  expert.  It  lays  in 
your  hand  the  record  of  the  past.  It  makes,  while  you  look,  the  exhibits  of  the 
present.  It  paints  before  your  eyes  the  splendor  of  still  greater  achievements  on 
the  cloud  curtain  of  the  future.  It  shows  itself  wherever  there  is  a  spirit  of  a 
commercialism,  a  sense  of  pride,  and  an  impulse  for  improvement. 

"The  Exposition  has  become  the  instrument  of  civilization.  Being  a  con- 
comitant to  empire,  westward  it  takes  its  way — The  Crystal  Palace,  the  Centennial, 
the  World's  Fair,  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition. 

"We  celebrate  at  this  hour  the  opening  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  Interna- 
tional Exposition,  and  this  day  marks  an  important  era  in  our  development. 

"The  purpose  of  this  Exposition  is  to  display  the  products,  manufactures 
and  industries  of  the  States  and  territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The 
territory  embraced  is  two-thirds  of  the  area  of  the  Union  and  contains  nineteen 
States  and  five  territories.  Part  of  this  territory  was  acquired  by  purchase  from 
France  in  1803,  and  part  by  treaties,  negotiations  and  cessions. 

"I  refer  to  these  facts  because  from  1802  to  1850  this  purchase,  these  treaties 
and  these  cessions  were  the  subject  of  public  discussions  and  much  that  was  said 
and  written  fittingly  illustrates  the  thought  I  have  heretofore  endeavored  to 
express. 

"During  these  times  some  there  were  who  dealt  much  in  prophecy,  and 
what  they  then  foretold  is  of  surpassing  interest  in  view  of  what  has  since 
happened. 

"Referring  to  the  standard  histories  and  the  leading  reviews  of  this  period,  I 
find  that  the  opponents  of  the  acquisition  of  this  territory  said  that  the  east  would 
be  depopulated.  The  mere  extent  of  territory  would  rend  the  public  apart. 
No  common  ties  of  interest  would  ever  bind  together  under  one  government  men 
who  fought  Indians,  trapped  bears  and  hunted  buffaloes,  and  men  who  built  ships 
and  caught  fish  in  the  harbors  of  the  Atlantic  ocean.  It  would  enormously 
increase  the  public  debt.  Two  millions  for  an  island  and  possibly  as  much  ground 
on  the  main  land  as  is  now  covered  by  the  State  of  New  York  was  enough  in 
all  conscience,  but  to  pay  fifteen  million  dollars  for  lands  containing  over  one 
million  square  miles  was  revolutionary  and  unconstitutional.  The  limits  of  the 
federation  could  not  be  safely  extended  beyond  the  stony  (Rocky)  mountains. 
As  late  as  1825  one  United  States  Senator  boldly  proclaimed  in  the  Senate:  'A 
member  of  Congress  traveling  from  his  home  to  Washington  and  return  would 
cover  a  distance  of  9,200  miles.  At  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  per  day,  and  allowing 
him  forty-four  days  for  Sundays,  three  hundred  and  fifty  days  would  be  consumed, 
and  the  member  would  have  fourteen  days  in  Washington  before  he  started  home. 
It  would  be  quicker  to  go  around  Cape  Horn  or  by  Behring's  Strait,  Baffin  Bay 
and  Davis  Strait  to  the  Atlantic,  and  so  to  Washington.' 


348  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"They  also  said,  'All  settlers  who  go  beyond  the  Mississippi  River  will  be  for- 
ever lost  to  the  United  States.'  Pike,  whose  name  is  attached  to  the  giant  peak 
of  the  Rockies,  condemned  these  plains  to  everlasting  sterility.  He  officially 
reported  to  the  War  Department  as  follows :  'From  these  immense  prairies  will  be 
derived  one  great  advantage  to  the  United  States,  namely,  the  restriction  of  our 
population  to  some  certain  limits,  and  thereby  a  continuation  of  the  Union.  They 
will  be  constrained  to  limit  themselves  to  the  borders  of  the  Missouri  and  the 
Mississippi,  while  they  leave  the  prairies,  incapable  of  cultivation,  to  the  wandering 
and  uncivilized  aborigines  of  the  country.' 

''In  1858  the  North  American  Rcviciv  declared:  'The  people  of  the  United 
States  have  reached  their  inland  western  frontier  and  the  banks  of  the  Missouri 
are  the  shores  at  the  termination  of  a  vast  ocean  desert  of  one  thousand  miles  in 
breadth  which  it  is  proposed  to  travel,  if  at  all,  with  caravans  of  camels  and 
which  interpose  a  final  barrier  to  the  establishment  of  large  communities,  agricul- 
tural, commercial  or  even  pastoral.' 

"In  all  authorized  publications,  and  on  all  school  maps,  the  strip  of  land  lying 
west  of  the  Missouri  River  and  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  south  to  the  Mexican 
frontier  and  north  to  British  America,  was  called  'an  unknown  land'  and 
designated  as  'the  Great  American  Desert.' 

"I  have  the  honor  today  of  being  the  official  spokesman  of  the  Trans-Missis- 
sippi and  International  Exposition.  In  the  discharge  of  the  duty  imposed  upon 
me  I  now  and  here  assert,  realizing  full  well  the  breadth  and  depth  and  meaning 
of  every  word  I  utter,  that  in  fertility  and  productiveness  of  soil,  in  mountains 
and  meadows,  rivers  and  lakes,  metals  and  minerals,  forests  and  farms,  sea-coast 
and  harbors,  cereals,  fruits  and  flowers,  cattle,  horses  and  hogs,  healthful  climate, 
grandeur  of  scenery  and  intelligence  and  industry  of  inhabitants,  there  is  not  on 
this  globe  a  body  or  tract  of  land  of  the  same  area  equal  to  that  region  of  country 
covered  by  the  States  and  territories  of  the  Union  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

"In  proof  whereof  we  welcome  you  to  these  grounds.  Come  through  these 
gates  and  enter  these  buildings,  and  we  will  give  you  ocular  proof,  or 

'At  the  least  shall  so  prove  it, 
That  the  probation  bears  no  hinge  nor  loop 
To  hang  a  doubt  on.' 

"With  samples  and  exhibits,  records  and  reports,  with  representatives  cre- 
dentiaied  and  accredited,  we  will  prove  to  the  thoughtful,  intelligent  and  unpreju- 
diced people  of  the  world,  that  'the  Great  American  Desert'  must  have  deserted, 
for  it  can  not  be  found.  Where  fifty  years  ago  they  said  it  was,  we  will  show  a 
farm  of  67,000,000  acres  under  cultivation,  producing  annually  products  of  the 
value  of  $1,000,000,000. 

"The  prairies  which  were  considered  'incapable  of  cultivation,'  produce 
annually  1,200,000,000  bushels  of  corn,  350,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  and  30.000,- 
ooo  tons  of  hay,  of  the  aggregate  value  of  $600,000,000,  making  no  accounting 
of  the  other  cereals,  the  fruits  and  the  vegetables. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  349 

"Instead  of  'trapping  bear  and  hunting  buffaloes/  9,000,000  horses  and  mules 
work  in  the  valleys;  32,000,000  cattle  feed  on  the  hills;  51,000,000  of  sheep  and 
hogs,  fleece  and  fatten,  and  this  livestock  alone  is  of  the  aggregate  value  of 
$1,200,000,000. 

"They  thought  $15,000,000  was  an  extortionate  price  to  pay  for  this  wilder- 
ness. Today  the  annual  output  of  gold  and  silver  is  $100,000,000;  of  copper  and 
other  minerals,  $100,000,000,  and  of  coal,  $30,000,000.  With  the  precious  metals 
alone  from  our  mines  we  could  pay  the  purchase  price  in  sixty  days. 

•'The  'barrier  to  the  establishment  of  commercial  enterprise/  stormed  by  the 
sturdy  frontiersmen,  gave  way  and  on  the  other  side  hum  and  whirl  the  wheels  of 
factories,  turning  out  annually  $1,400,000,000  worth  of  the  best  and  cheapest 
manufactured  goods  in  the  world. 

''The  'caravans  of  camels'  not  coming  from  their  Egyptian  midnight,  the 
people  of  this  country  constructed  80,000  miles  of  railway  as  a  means  of  travel 
and  transportation. 

"In  the  land  where  only  fifty  years  ago  'wandering  and  uncivilized  aborigines' 
sought  shelter  in  wigwams  and  leaf  tents,  now  live  22,000,000  of  intelligent  people, 
with  I2i  universities  and  colleges,  62,000  schoolhouses,  5,700,000  children,  6,000 
newspapers  and  45,000  religious  organizations,  having  a  membership  of  3,500,000 
and  worshiping  in  44,000  church  edifices. 

"The  aggregate  wealth  of  this  region  of  country  is  $22,000,000,000,  or  more 
than  one-half  the  entire  capital  of  Great  Britain. 

"These  are  not  figures  of  speech,  but  the  arithmetic  of  facts.  I  have  given  the 
numbers  round  but  always  under. 

"For  one  of  these  territories  the  Government  paid  $7,000,000,  yet  in  a  few 
years  it  received  from  the  seal  islands  embraced  therein,  alone,  the  purchase  price, 
and  there  is  now  in  sight  in  its  gold  mines  enough  to  pay  the  national  debt. 

"Another  has  the  greatest  onyx  mines  in  the  world,  yet  its  shipments  of  fruit 
amount  to  10,000,000  pounds  a  year. 

"One  of  these  Trans-Mississippi  States  has  the  greatest  deposits  of  marble 
of  any  State  in  the  Union,  and  yet  this  same  State  took  the  prize  at  the  Columbian 
Exposition  for  the  best  apples  in  the  world. 

"Another  leads  the  Union  not  only  in  gold  or  silver  production,  but  in  the 
production  of  wool  as  well,  and  it  has  more  sea-coast  than  the  States  of  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  combined. 

"Still  another  produces  annually  an  amount  equal  to  four  hundred  dollars 
for  each  of  its  inhabitants,  man,  woman  or  child,  and  no  other  country  in  the 
world  can  show  an  equal  product  per  capita. 

"Another  State  has  already  taken  from  its  mines  silver  to  an  amount  equal 
to  the  present  circulation  of  silver  coin  in  the  United  States.  One  thousand  miles 
from  the  place  where  stand  the  greatest  flour  mills  in  the  world,  and  all  in  this 
same  territory,  is  a  land  where  cotton,  corn  and  olives  grow  in  adjoining  fields. 


350  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"In  one  State  there  is  a  greater  variety  of  minerals  than  in  any  other  section 
of  country  of  like  size  in  the  world.  Another  has  a  region  of  country  in  the  hills 
a  hundred  miles  square,  which  is  the  richest  in  the  world,  containing  the  largest 
and  most  easily  worked  mass  of  low  grade  ore  yet  discovered.  Another  has  an 
area  equal  to  the  German  Empire,  with  62,000  miles  to  spare,  and  could  sustain 
upon  its  surface  with  ease  and  prosperity  the  entire  population  of  the  United 
States. 

"Here  we  find  'literature  and  the  elegant  arts  growing  up  side  by  side  with 
the  grosser  plants  of  daily  interest.'  In  almost  every  city  are  academies  of  paint- 
ing, sculpture,  music  and  literature.  The  development  in  the  fine  arts  has  not 
been  as  conspicuous  as  in  the  industrial  pursuits.  I  do  not  think  that  I  \vould  be 
superfluously  explanatory  if  I  assigned  the  reason. 

"These  people  have  imagination  and  taste,  and  long  hold  communion  with 
the  visible  forms  of  all  that  is  beautiful  and  refined,  but  for  the  last  fifty  years 
they  have  been  using  their  brain  and  brawn  in  a  war  with  rude  nature.  They  have 
been  employing  their  genius  to  find  reason  and  glory  in  matter.  With  them  it 
has  been  an  age  of  utility  and  utensil.  Egyptian  and  Indian  architecture,  Phidian 
sculpture,  Gothic  ministers,  Italian  paintings,  Grecian  epics  and  Scottish  ballads 
are  not  produced  by  a  people  whose  time  is  consumed  in  constructing  railways, 
building  cities,  disemboweling  mountains,  draining  lakes  into  irrigating  canals, 
'bottling  up  the  forces  of  gravity  and  selling  it  by  retail,'  yoking  electricity  and 
steam,  and  directing  them  both  as  unwearied  and  obedient  servants. 

"The  results  which  this  Exposition  will  show  to  have  been  attained  are 
largely  due  to  the  character  of  the  people  who  took  possession  of  this  land.  They 
were  of  the  best  blood  of  the  Union ;  men  of  depth  and  range ;  of  aplomb  and 
reserve ;  of  judgment  and  common  sense.  Men  who  would  spare  nothing  and 
wanted  everything.  Men  who  believed  in  action  and  knew  the  value  of  every 
moment  of  time.  Men  who  realized  'that  the  poorest  day  that  passes  over  us  is 
the  conflux  of  two  eternities.  It  is  made  up  of  currents  that  issue  from  the 
remotest  past  and  flow  onward  into  the  remotest  future.'  Men  who  soon  found 
that  agriculture  was  just  beginning  when  they  felled  the  forest,  and  that  driving 
from  the  streams  the  Indian  and  his  canoe  was  not  the  end  of  commerce.  Mm 
who  were  willing  to  give  their  lifework  to  the  making  of  the  alphabet  of  the 
language  of  development,  leaving  the  word-forming  and  phrase-making  to  those 
who  would  succeed  them.  Men  who,  actuated  by  the  impulse  to  better  themselves 
and  also  their  descendants,  co-operating  with  the  organic  effort  of  nature  'to  mount 
and  ameliorate/  overcame  the  'wilderness'  and  converted  the  'desert'  into  a  garden 
of  benefits. 

"I  do  not  believe  I  shall  have  adequately  discharged  the  duty  of  this  office 
unless  I  speak  of  one  other  factor  in  the  glorious  development  of  this  great 
country.  We  today  should  bow  our  heads  in  reverence  and  speak  the  name  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  The  greatest  single  factor  or  agency  in  the  development  of  this 
country  and  in  the  bringing  of  this  people  together  in  a  spirit  of  union  and  brother- 
hood was  the  construction  of  the  Pacific  railways,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  351 

leading  public  man  who  had  sufficient  prescience  of  the  necessity  of  the  construc- 
tion of  these  railways. 

"And  Abraham  Lincoln  was  of  this  people.  He  was  born  about  100  miles 
from  the  east  line  of  the  Louisiana  purchase.  For  fifty-two  of  the  fifty-six  years 
of  his  life  on  earth  he  labored  in  this  territory  with  the  pioneers  for  the  develop- 
ment of  this  country,  the  organization  of  its  society  and  the  establishment  and 
preservation  of  this  government.  He  was  a  frontiersman,  and  yet  of  all  the 
greatest,  the  best  and  the  mightiest  men  of  the  past  nineteen  centuries,  he  was  the 
only  man  of  whom  we  can  say,  'Some  there  are  who  doubt  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
but  no  one  the  godliness  of  Lincoln.' 

''When  the  cornerstone  of  this  great  enterprise  was  laid,  many  were  the 
things  which  we  promised  you  would  see  and  hear  on  Opening  Day.  And  now 
into  these  magnificent  buildings  and  on  these  beautiful  grounds  we  ask  the  people 
of  the  earth  to  come  and  judge  of  their  fulfillment. 

"While  our  eyes  are  enrapturd  with  the  glories  of  these  scenes,  our  ears  will 
be  enchanted  with  the  promised  song. 

"Uplift  a  thousand  voices  full  and  sweet 

In  this  wide  hall,  with  earth's  inventions  stored, 
And  praise  the  invisible,  universal  Lord, 

Who  lets  once  more  in  peace  the  nations  meet 
Where  science,  art  and  labor  have  outpoured, 

Their  myriad  horns  of  plenty  at  our  feet." 

ADDRESS  OF  GOVERNOR  SILAS  A.  HOLCOMB,  NEBRASKA 

"This  occasion,  the  day  and  the  hour,  will  ever  remain  memorable  in  the 
history  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  country.  It  marks  a  most  interesting  event  in  the 
history  of  this  commonwealth  and  measures  a  step  forward  in  the  progress  of 
our  great  republic.  To  the  people  of  Nebraska,  the  ceremonies  attending  the 
opening  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  are  freighted 
with  special  and  personal  interests  of  the  most  impressive  character. 

"This  day  has  been  anxiously  awaited  by  every  patriotic  citizen  of  the  State. 
The  inception  and  successful  inauguration  of  an  enterprise  so  grand  in  its  scope, 
and  fraught,  as  we  believe  it  is,  with  so  much  good  to  the  present  and  future 
generations,  is  gratifying  alike  to  all.  An  Exposition  denoting  the  ever-advancing 
civilization  of  the  present  age,  and  by  a  people  inhabiting  over  one-half  of  the 
area  of  the  United  States  and  comprising  over  one-third  of  its  population,  held 
within  the  boundaries  of  our  great  commonwealth,  is  an  honor  and  a  distinction 
gratifying  to  our  State  pride,  and  for  which  all  Nebraskans  are  duly  appreciative. 
For  five  months  it  will  be  the  great  pleasure,  as  well  as  a  high  privilege,  for  our 
people  to  extend,  with  welcome  hands  and  warm  hearts,  a  hospitable  greeting 
to  the  people  of  all  portions  of  our  common  country,  and  to  those  from  other 
lands  who  may  participate  in  or  visit  this  magnificent  display.  We  cordially 
invite  all  to  visit  us  and  view  the  evidence  of  the  marvelous  progress  made  by 


352 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


the  people  of  the  great  West  in  the  material  advancement  in  the  industries,  arts 
and  sciences ;  to  learn  of  the  wonderful  and  inexhaustible  resources  of  a  country 
which  in  extent  forms  an  empire  and  whose  unparalleled  resources,  when  utilized, 
can  be  made  to  bless  and  make  happy  millions  of  mankind  who  may  in  this  vast 
domain  find  innumerable  opportunities  for  the  establishment  of  prosperous  homes. 
"Here,  gathered  by  the  energy,  industry  and  ingenuity  of  man,  will  be  found 
the  products  of  land  and  sea,  of  farm  and  field,  of  factory  and  mine,  all  giving 
evidence  of  the  wonderful  richness  of  a  country  yet  only  partially  developed,  and 
displaying  the  marvelous  progress  made  by  its  citizens  in  keeping  step  with  the 
grand  march  of  civilization  throughout  the  world.  The  spirit  of  progress  and 
philanthropy  in  the  upbuilding  of  an  industrial  empire  in  our  midst,  displayed 
upon  every  hand,  must  challenge  the  admiration  and  solicit  unstinted  praise  from 
all  who  shall  visit  us  and  behold  what  has  been  accomplished  by  these  people  in 
scarce  one-half  century  of  labor.  These  are  the  evidences  of  the  intelligent  and 

well-directed  efforts  of  a  people  who,  with  a 
courage  that  is  undaunted  and  a  faith  that  is 
undismayed,  have  wrested  from  nature's  primeval 
conditions  this  beautiful  land,  and  established  a 
civilization  that  will'  forever  bless  mankind. 

"This   great   Exposition   celebrates  and  com- 
memorates no  important  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the   country.      It   is   an   epoch    in    itself.      It   has 
^^B  r    grown  and  assumed  shape  and  form  as  an  expres- 

^^1  M.  s^on  °^  *'ie  c^es^res  °f  a  people  to  celebrate  the 

to^,    ^^Q^j    ^f       development   of   the   resources   of  a   country,   the 
^H  result   of   their   own    struggles,    labors    and    final 

^^B  triumphs.     It  is  grander  and  more  far-reaching  in 

^^^j    ^^^^  its  scope  than  the  celebration  of  some  anniversary 

in  our  country's  history.  It  emphasizes  and  makes 
comprehensive  the  accomplishments  of  an  intelli- 
gent, progressive  people  toward  a  higher  civilization.  It  is  a  composite  picture 
of  the  growth  of  a  people  made  during  the  early  years  of  settlement  in  a  new 
and  untried  country.  It  is  befitting,  as  the  nineteenth  century  is  drawing  to  a 
close,  with  its  fruitage  of  the  manifold  blessings  which  have  been  showered  upon 
the  people  of  the  earth  during  its  reign,  that  we  of  the  western  and  newer  half 
of  the  American  republic  should  take  an  inventory  of  the  stock  of  great  riches 
of  which  we  are  possessed,  in  order  that  we  may  thereby  be  the  better  enabled 
to  assume  the  duties  and  responsibilities  and  to  solve  the  problems  of  the  advance- 
ment of  the  human  race  that  come  crowding  upon  us  with  the  dawning  of  the 
twentieth  century. 

"With  the  force  of  a  proverb  it  has  been  said  of  man  'Know  thyself;'  and 
with  greater  emphasis  may  it  be  declared,  'Know  thy  country.'  Study  its  struc- 
ture as  formed  by  divine  hands.  Know  its  rivers  and  mountains,  its  forests  and 
prairies,  its  valleys  and  plains,  its  climate  and  soil.  Learn  of  its  hidden  treasures 


Silas  A.  Holcomb, 
Governor  of  Nebraska 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  353 

of  gold  and  silver,  of  coal  and  iron ;  its  productive  fields  of  grain  and  grasses,  of 
vegetables  and  fruits,  its  plains  of  rich  grazing  for  horses,  cattle  and  sheep. 
Inform  yourself  of  the  cities  and  towns,  of  telegraphs  and  telephones,  of  railroads 
and  steamboats,  of  the  ever-pulsing  arteries  of  commerce,  the  facilities  for 
exchange  of  the  products  of  man's  ingenuity  and  industry,  and  a  faint  concep- 
tion will  be  gained  of  the  present  greatness  and  future  possibilities  of  this  mag- 
nificent Trans-Mississippi  country. 

"As  this  beautiful  Exposition  city,  with  its  thousands  of  exhibits  representing 
every  branch  of  industry,  pleasing  to  the  eye  and  inspiring  to  the  mind,  has 
sprung  into  existence  in  so  short  a  period  as  if  by  magic,  so  has  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  country  developed  during  the  last  half  century  with  marvelous 
rapidity.  This  has  been  accomplished  by  the  courage  and  untiring  energy  of  those 
who  have  peopled  its  broad  domains.  The  evidences  here  witnessed  of  the 
advancement  of  the  people  and  the  development  of  the  country's  resources  inspire 
within  us  a  spirit  of  thankfulness  that  God  has  given  us  so  goodly  a  land,  to  be 
made  beautiful  and  to  fructify  for  the  enjoyment  and  benefit  of  .mankind. 

"Though  young  in  years,  we  of  the  West  ask  no  allowance  on  the  score  of 
age,  but  challenge  investigation  and  comparison  with  improvements  made  by 
countries  of  maturer  years,  confident  that  no  unfavorable  impression  of  us  will 
result  therefrom.  In  this  hour  of  festivity  and  rejoicing  we  are  not  unmindful 
that  it  is  also  a  time  of  trial  for  the  nation.  Loyal  citizens  from  every  section  of 
the  country  have  sprung  to  arms  in  defense  of  national  honor,  in  the  cause  of 
humanity.  Sectional  lines  have  been  obliterated  in  the  face  of  threatened  danger 
from  foreign  foes.  A  reunited  people  are  fighting  side  by  side  under  the  stars 
and  stripes,  the  banner  of  liberty  and  progress. 

"Amidst  these  marvelous  collections  of  our  triumphs  in  the  peaceful  pur- 
suits of  life  we  hope  it  may  again  be  demonstrated  that  'peace  hath  her  victories 
no  less  renowned  than  war,'  and  that  our  countrymen  of  the  East  may  meet  us 
here  in  this  midway  city  of  the  continent,  learn  of  our  progress  in  the  past,  our 
aspirations  and  high  aims,  our  hopes  for  the  future,  and  the  integrity  of  our  pur- 
pose and  determination  to  contribute  to  a  better  civilization  in  developing  this 
great  country  and  to  attain  the  high  destiny  designed  for  us  by  the  Maker  of  the 
Universe." 

NEBRASKA  DAY  — June  14,  1898 

An  outline  of  the  exercises  and  the  program  which  was  carried  out  on 
Nebraska  Day  has  been  given  in  an  appropriate  place  in  Chapter  III,  Part  I,  of 
this  History.  The  original  poem  and  addresses  on  that  occasion  were  as  follows : 

"NEBRASKA,"    BY    MRS.    IDAEL    MAcKEEVER,  OF    STROMSBURG 

You  may  talk  of  Eastern  cities,  of  their  populace  and  size, 
Of  their  buildings  reaching  upward  to  the  blue  dome  of  the  skies, 
Of  their  many  church  spires  glinting  in  the  gold  of  setting  sun, 
And  the  countless  crowds  that  pass  them  when  the  busy  day  is  done. 


354  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

You  may  talk  of  noble  harbors  and  of  stately  ships  that  sail 
Proudly  on  the  cold,  gray  ocean,  breasting  many  a  salt-sea  gale. 

You  may  talk  about  your  rivers  flowing  grandly  to  the  sea, 

Of  your  commerce  and  your  factories  and  lands  so  rich  and  free ; 

Of  your  mines  and  mountains  yielding  their  silver  and  their  gold, 

Of  your  hills  and  valleys  laden  with  the  scent  of  wood  and  wold ; 

Or,  of  Oriental  splendors  lying  far  beyond  the  sea, 

I  will  smile  and  tell  you  plainly,  they  don't  count  at  all  with  me. 

For  I  know  a  land  so  lovely,  it  defies  you  at  your  best, 

'Tis  our  own  beloved  Nebraska,  still  the  garden  of  the  West. 

Within  her  smiling  borders,  lie  the  fields  of  growing  grain, 

Waving  in  the  golden  sunlight  o'er  her  broad  and  level  plain. 

O'er  her  prairies  lonely  Freedom  seeks  a  tryst  with  vanished  youth, 

And  the  breath  of  God  sweeps  gently,  whispering  eternal  Truth. 

While  the  onward  march  of  Progress  with  her  banners  bright,  unfurled, 

And  a  voice  from  out  the  distance  rings  unto  a  sleepy  world, 

Crying,  "Forward  is  the  watchword  of  creation's  mighty  call, 

Rise  and  follow,  I  will  lead  you,  to  the  source  of  All  in  All." 

Here  in  days  gone  by  the  red  man  roamed  at  will  so  wild  and  free, 

Simple,  untamed  child  of  Nature,  chanting  his  rude  minstrelsy, 

Till  the  avaricious  white  man's  never-ending  cry  of  "More," 

Pushed  him  onward  still  and  onward,  to  the  Western  ocean's  shore. 

And  here  ambitious  Coronado,  seeking  Castile's  greatest  good, 

And  the  far-famed  seven  cities  of  Cibola  as  they  stood 

In  his  wild  imagination  touched  our  long  and  lonely  plain, 

Finding  nothing,  leaving  nothing  but  the  prairie  in  his  train. 

Now  are  well-tilled  farms  and  gardens,  and  the  plains  that  then  were  bare, 

Blossom  as  the  rose  of  Sharon  in  our  breezy,  western  air. 

Here  our  smiling  groves  are  planted,  and  their  green  and  shady  bowers 

Tell  of  Arbor  Day's  vast  blessing  on  a  barren  plain  like  ours. 

Honor  to  J.  Sterling  Morton  and  his  institution  grand, 

Now  observed  throughout  the  borders  of  our  happy,  prosperous  land. 

Here  our  bursting  bin  and  storehouse,  and  our  reapers'  merry  song, 

Tell  of  Industry's  creation,  and  the  brave,  courageous  throng 

Whom  we  call  our  Western  heroes,  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  toil ; 

Safe  from  gleam  of  hate  or  battle,  or  the  surge  of  life's  turmoil, 

Some  have  passed  life's  earthly  borders,  and  lie  'neath  the  grassy  seas, 

Where  the  night  wind  lisps  in  passing  and  a  flower  perfumes  the  breeze. 

As  they  lie  asleep  forever,  resting  quietly  with  God, 
We  will  not  forget  their  service  nor  the  paths  that  they  have  trod. 
But  will  drop  a  tear  in  passing,  giving  a  tender,  thoughtful  sigh, 
For  the  ones  who've  made  Nebraska  fairest  spot  beneath  the  sky. 
If  I  have  my  way  in  heaven  when  this  earthly  life  is  done, 
Where  they  say  a  harp  is  given  and  a  golden  crown  is  won. 
I  will  ask  a  wreath  of  sunflowers,  and  the  yellow  golden  rod. 
Gathered  from  our  Western  prairies  as  a  royal  gift  from  God. 

When  vesper  bells  are  ringing  softly  over  land  and  sea, 

When  the  songbirds  cease  their  singing,  silence  breathes  upon  the  lea; 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


355 


When  the  murmur  of  the  night  wind  sweeps  the  fields  of  golden  grain, 
Then  my  soul  shall  come  and  listen  to  its  tender,  glad  refrain, 
As  it  rustles  through  the  corn  leaves,  singing  ever  as  it  strays, 
Seeming  like  the  friendly  greeting  of  a  voice  from  bygone  days, 
With  sweet  memories  entranced,  my  harp  attuned  shall  be, 
Its  chords  and  tones  divinely  singing  Nature's  symphony. 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  GURDON  W.  WATTLES 

"In  behalf  of  the  management  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International 
Exposition,  I  accept  this  beautiful  building  dedicated  here  today  for  the  comfort 
and  convenience  of  the  citizens  of  Nebraska.  I  commend  the  wisdom  of  its  con- 
ception, the  care  and  economy  in  its  erection  and  the  beauty  and  convenience  of 
its  design.  The  management  of  the  Exposition  appreciates  the  broad  and  liberal 
hospitality  of  the  State  Board  of  Directors  in  providing  a  home  on  these  grounds, 
not  only  for  our  own  citizens,  societies  and  institutions,  but  for  the  representatives 
of  other  States  and  ter- 
ritories. The  comforts 
of  this  building  will 
minister  to  thousands 
of  strangers  who  will- 
accept  its  hospitality.  It 
will  do  much  to  accom- 
plish one  of  the  great 
objects  of  this  Exposi- 
tion, which  is  to  cement 
the  ties  of  friendship 
and  good  feeling,  and 
b  i  n  d  together  with 
pleasant  memories  and 
common  interests  the  Nebraska  Building 

citizens  from  all  parts  of  this  great  country.  The  East  has  misunderstood  the 
West  and  has  not  appreciated  its  resources,  its  citizens  and  its  magnificent  oppor- 
tunities. To  the  State  of  Nebraska,  the  future  historian  will  give  the  credit  of 
erecting,  in  times  of  adversity,  a  great  Exposition,  destined  to  break  down  preju- 
dices, build  up  commerce  and  promote  peace  and  good-will  throughout  the  land. 

"When  our  excellent  Governor  recommended.,  in  his  last  biennial  message 
to  the  legislature  of  this  State,  a  liberal  appropriation  in  aid  of  this  Exposition, 
a  discussion  of  the  merits  of  this  enterprise  was  precipitated  throughout  the  State, 
which  for  several  months  grew  in  intensity  until  a  bill  was  finally  passed  and 
became  a  law  providing  for  a  State  building  and  a  State  exhibit.  Many  of  the 
speeches  in  opposition  to  this  measure  would  be  amusing  if  reproduced  here  today. 
But  when  we  consider  the  conditions  which  prevailed  three  years  ago  in  this  State, 
we  can  not  wonder  that  many  questioned  the  advisability  of  the  enterprise.  A  great 


356  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

panic  had  paralyzed  our  business  interests ;  two  crop  failures  had  discouraged 
our  farming  communities;  many  of  our  citizens  in  the  western  parts  of  the  State 
had  but  recently  received  public  charity,  and  many  had  abandoned  their  lands 
to  seek  homes  in  Southern  climes  or  to  go  back  to  Eastern  friends  and  relatives. 
Conditions  never  had  seemed  more  discouraging,  and  to  many  who  live  only  in 
the  present,  an  Exposition  of  our  resources  in  1898  meant  failure  and  disgrace. 

"But  adverse  conditions  make  heroes.  The  richest  inheritance  of  this  gen- 
eration is  the  courage  and  energy  of  the  pioneers  of  the  West.  These  pioneers 
subdued  the  savage  tribes  which  occupied  this  territory,  drove  back  the  buffalo 
and  antelope  and  made  productive  farms  of  the  desert  they  occupied.  They  built 
railroads,  schoolhouses,  churches  and  colleges ;  they  bravely  met  and  surmounted 
every  emergency ;  they  were  the  best  blood  and  brain  of  the  East  and  of  all  parts 
of  the  world.  From  them  and  their  descendants  came  words  of  encouragement 
and  support  to  the  managers  of  this  enterprise.  These  men,  who  had  seen  the 
State  of  Nebraska  in  times  of  temporary  adversity  before,  knew  that  the  natural 
conditions  of  this  State  justified  the  expectation  of  a  speedy  return  of  good  crops 
and  prosperity  in  business,  and  so  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  by  petition  and 
through  the  press,  came  a  demand  in  favor  of  the  Exposition  which  our  legislators 
could  not  resist. 

"That  the  appropriation  of  State  and  national  funds  for  this  Exposition  wcis 
wise  can  not  be  doubted  by  any  who  believe  in  public  schools  and  other  public 
institutions  of  learning.  From  an  educational  standpoint,  what  could  impart  more 
information  and  better  education  than  an  Exposition  of  this  character?  Who 
can  stand  at  either  end  of  the  Grand  Court  and  look  at  the  magnificent  spectacle 
of  architectural  grandeur  there  displayed  without  receiving  impressions  and 
inspirations  which  will  last  through  life?  To  the  farmer  whose  days  are  spent 
in  honest  toil  in  the  quiet  and  peaceful  pursuits  of  country  life,  what  must  be 
the  sensations  of  wonder  and  delight  in  seeing  for  the  first  time  the  electrical 
effects  of  these  grounds  and  buildings  at  night?  To  the  great  majority  of  our 
citizens  who  have  never  seen  the  capital  of  the  nation  and  the  departments  of  our 
Government,  what  could  be  more  interesting  and  educating  than  the  illustration 
of  the  workings  of  these  departments  made  in  the  beautiful  Government  building 
here  ?  To  one  and  all  the  display  of  art  from  the  masters  of  the  Old  World  and 
the  best  painters  of  modern  times,  the  statuary,  the  machinery,  the  products  of 
farm  and  factory,  and  the  highest  and  best  results  of  genius  and  invention  can 
not  fail  to  be  a  school  of  learning  that  could  not  be  equaled  in  any  other  way. 

"But  the  financial  benefits  of  this  Exposition  to  the  State  of  Nebraska  and 
to  the  entire  West  will  amply  repay  the  expense  and  effort  in  its  promotion. 
Already  has  the  attention  of  the  world  been  attracted  by  the  magnificent  display 
of  our  resources  here  made,  and  during  the  next  four  months  thousands  of 
homeseekers  and  investors  will  visit  the  Exposition  and  investigate  the  oppor- 
tunities of  the  West.  That  this  State  will  secure  its  full  share  of  this  tide  of 
immigration  we  can  not  doubt  when  we  consider  that  the  growing  crops  this 
year  in  many  counties  promise  to  exceed  the  value  of  the  farms  on  which  they 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


357 


are  produced,  that  the  livestock  interests  of  the  State  have  doubled  in  the  last 
four  years,  and  that  thousands  of  acres  of  the  richest  and  best  lands  in  the  world 
for  the  production  of  corn  and  sugar  beets  are  today  unoccupied.  New  life  and 
energy  will  be  infused  in  all  branches  of  industry  throughout  the  State  by  the 
men  and  money  that  will  be  attracted  here  by  the  Exposition  and  the  improved 
conditions  which  now  prevail.  The  investment  of  this  State  will  be  returned 
many  fold  by  the  increase  in  value  of  its  taxable  property  and  by  the  higher  and 
better  civilization  of  its  citizens. 

"In  view  of  the  many  benefits  of  this  Exposition  to  the  State  of  Nebraska, 
I  most  heartily  congratulate  His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  the  lawmakers  of 
this  State  and  the  State  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Exposition  on  the  wisdom  and 
statesmanship  displayed  in  making  an  appropriation  for  a  State  building  and  an 
exhibit  here.  I  congratulate  them  on  this  magnificent  building,  which  does  honor 
to  the  State  it  represents  and  credit  to  the  Exposition  of  which  it  forms  a  part. 
In  the  name  of  the  Exposition,  I  accept  this  building  for  the  purposes  for  which 
it  is  this  day  dedicated." 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN 

"Nebraska  is  ready  to  do  her  part  in  time  of  war  as  well  as  in  time  of  peace. 
Her  citizens  were  among  the  first  to  give  expression  to  their  sympathy  with  the 
Cuban  patriots,  and  her  representatives  in  the  Sen- 
ate and  House  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  advo- 
cacy of  armed  intervention  by  the  United  States. 

"When  the  President  issued  a  call  for  volun- 
teers, Nebraska's  quota  was  promptly  furnished, 
and  she  is  prepared  to  respond  to  the  second  and 
subsequent  calls. 

"Nebraska's  attitude  upon  this  subject  does 
not,  however,  indicate  that  the  State  is  inhabited 
by  a  contentious  or  warlike  people ;  it  simply 
proves  that  our  people  understand  both  the  rights 
conferred  and  the  obligations  imposed  by  a  prox- 
imity to  Cuba.  Understanding  these  rights  and 
obligations,  they  do  not  shrink  from  any  conse- 
quences which  may  follow  the  performance  of  a 
national  duty.  Hon-  william  J-  Bryan 

"War  is  harsh ;  it  is  attended  by  hardship  and  suffering ;  it  means  a  vast 
expenditure  of  men  and  money.  We  may  well  pray  for  the  coming  of  the  time, 
promised  in  Holy  Writ,  when  the  spears  shall  be  beaten  into  pruning-hooks  and 
the  swords  into  ploughshares;  but  the  universal  peace  can  not  come  until  justice  is 
enthroned  throughout  the  world.  Jehovah  deals  with  nations  as  He  deals  with 
men,  and  for  both  decrees  that  'the  wages  of  sin  is  death.'  Until  the  right  has 
triumphed  in  every  land  and  love  reigns  in  every  heart,  governments  must,  as  a 


358  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

last  resource,  appeal  to  force.  As  long  as  the  oppressor  is  deaf  to  the  advice  of 
reason,  so  long-  must  the  citizen  accustom  his  shoulder  to  the  musket  and  his 
hand  to  the  saber. 

"Our  nation  exhausted  diplomacy  in  its  efforts  to  secure  a  peaceable  solution 
of  the  Cuban  question,  and  only  took  up  arms  when  it  was  compelled  to  choose 
between  war  and  servile  acquiescence  in  cruelties  which  would  have  been  a 
disgrace  to  barbarism. 

"History  will  vindicate  the  position  taken  by  the  United  States  in  the  war 
with  Spain.  In  saying  this,  I  assume  that  the  principles  which  were  invoked  in 
the  inauguration  of  the  war  will  be  observed  in  its  prosecution  and  conclusion.  If 
a  contest  undertaken  for  the  sake  of  humanity  degenerates  into  a  war  of  conquest, 
we  shall  find  it  difficult  to  meet  the  charge  of  having  added  hypocrisy  to  greed. 

"Is  our  national  character  so  weak  that  we  can  not  withstand  the  temptation 
to  appropriate  the  first  piece  of  land  that  comes  within  our  reach  ?  To  inflict  upon 
the  enemy  all  possible  harm  is  legitimate  warfare,  but  shall  we  contemplate  a 
scheme  for  the  colonization  of  the  Orient  merely  because  our  fleet  won  a  remark- 
able victory  in  the  harbor  of  Manila? 

"Our  guns  destroyed  a  Spanish  fleet,  but  can  they  destroy  the  self-evident 
truth  that  governments  derive  their  just  powers,  not  from  superior  force,  but 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed? 

"Shall  we  abandon  a  just  resistance  to  European  encroachment  upon  the 
western  hemisphere  in  order  to  mingle  in  the  controversies  of  Europe  and  Asia  ? 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  F.  GURLEY 

"Fellow-citizens :  The  dedication  of  the  Nebraska  building  is  in  reality  the 
inauguration  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition.  The  orators  of  this  occasion, 
speaking  with  authority,  voice  the  welcome  of  a  most  gracious  host,  the  common- 
wealth of  Nebraska.  The  ceremonials  of  this  hour  convey  formal  notice  to  the 
civilized  world  that  the  hospitality  of  our  State  is  boundless,  and  that  every  guest 
within  our  gates  shall  find  a  royal  welcome. 

"The  American  exposition  of  the  broadest  scope  has  heretofore  been  not 
only  commemorative,  but  has  been  the  chronicle  of  some  great  national  anni- 
versary, or  the  celebration  of  an  epoch  in  history.  The  Trans-Mississippi  Expo- 
sition has  no  place  in  this  majestic  series  of  formal  festivals.  No  memory  which 
duty  enjoins  to  embalm  in  marble  sits  enthroned  among  the  palaces  of  this 
triumphal  city.  It  rears  today  its  domes  of  gold  and  minarets  of  alabaster  as  an 
inspiration  born  of  the  passionate  impulse  of  a  proud  people ;  not  a  memory,  but 
a  radiant  dream — a  dream  which  is  also  a  prophecy ! 

"For  more  than  a  hundred  years  the  traditions  of  the  Republic  have  found 
lodgement  among  the  granite  hills  of  New  England  and  in  the  pine  groves  and 
cotton  fields  of  the  balmy  South.  To  New  England  and  the  South  we  turn  with 
pride  to  read  the  annals  of  American  ancestry ;  but  in  the  magnificent  prairie  and 
mountain  States,  those  colossal  principalities  which  comprise  the  'seat  of  empire' 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  359 

of  the  new  West,  enthroned  between  the  mountains  and  the  Mississippi,  we  behold 
the  fulfillment  of  the  hope  of  American  posterity. 

"The  Centennial  and  the  World's  Fair  were  superb  monuments  to  the  glitter- 
ing pageantry  of  completed  history.  The  Exposition  to  which  we  bid  you 
welcome  is  unique  in  character,  and  in  its  promise  of  future  grandeur  more 
wonderful  than  the  crystallization  of  centuries  of  matured  development  which 
characterized  the  national  pageants  at  Philadelphia  and  Chicago.  The  perfected 
products  of  a  matured  civilization  may  well  incite  the  admiration  of  observant 
men.  But  it  has  remained  for  the  progressive  population  of  this  royal  region, 
rich  in  resources  beyond  the  flight  of  the  most  exuberant  fancy,  to  present  for 
the  delectation  of  mankind  the  inexhaustible  treasures  of  an  incomparable  terri- 
tory, comprising  the  most  princely  provinces  of  our  national  domain. 

"This  Exposition  is  representative,  not  of  what  we  have  been,  but  rather  of 
what  we  may  be,  and,  under  the  providence  of  God,  what  we  are  to  be.    Nebraska 
rejoices  that  the  time  has  come  when,  as  the  official 
representative  of  the  great  West,  she  may  extend 
a  welcome  to  the  denizens  of  the  East ;  hopeful  and 
confident   that   by   contact    and   association    those 
errors  and  misconceptions  which  have  arisen  as  to 
the  character  and  purpose  of  her  citizenship  may     / 
be  forever  swept  away. 

"Conservative  and  radical  are  much-abused 
terms.  In  recent  years  they  have  been  employed 
to  emphasize  a  demarkation  line  between  the  ^ 
so-called  eastern  and  western  halves  of  the  Repub- 
lic. The  accumulated  wealth  of  the  East,  by  virtue 
of  the  logic  of  human  nature,  has  impressed  its 
timidity  and  conservative  quality  upon  the  citizen- 
ship of  that  portion  of  the  Republic.  In  the  East 

William  F.  Gurley 

dwell  the  sentinels  of  wealth ;  in  the  West,  pioneers 

of  fortune.  He  who  has  is  ever  conservative,  while  he  who  hopes  is  ever  radical. 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  the  radicalism  of  the  West,  born  of  honest  tumult 
and  patriotic  commotion,  is  the  sure  sign  of  that  superb  progression  which  blazes 
the  pathway  of  civilization,  and  builds  the  roadways  for  the  onward  march  of 
humanity  toward  the  final  and  triumphal  destiny  of  the  race. 

"To  be  radical  is  to  agitate,  and  in  agitation  lies  the  safety  of  the  Republic. 
Some  one  had  defined  agitation  to  be  'marshaling  the  conscience  of  a  nation  to 
mould  its  laws/  and  since  John  Brown  trod  the  soil  of  Kansas  we  of  the  West  have 
been  agitators.  Popular  government  can  only  exist  through  a  continual  process 
of  fermentation.  Free  speech  is  at  the  basis  of  free  institutions,  and  out  of  the 
clamor  and  heat  of  partisan  discussion  arises  the  best  thought,  the  highest  pur- 
pose of  a  patriotic  people. 

"Fellow-citizens,  I  can  conceive  of  no  more  appropriate  occasion  than  the 
present,  on  this  day,  and  at  this  hour,  to  protest  against  the  misconception  of  our 


360  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

status  as  a  commonwealth  or  our  purposes  as  a  people.  With  seventeen  years  of 
personal  knowledge  and  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  Nebraska 
since  its  admission  to  the  sisterhood  of  States,  as  a  loyal  son  of  this  glorious 
commonwealth,  I  challenge  the  assertion,  whenever  and  wherever  made,  that  any 
branch  of  our  State  government,  in  any  period  of  its  history,  has  ever  made  an 
assault  upon  the  rights  of  citizenship,  real  or  personal,  or  endeavored  to  wield  an 
arbitrary  authority  in  defiance  of  law  or  constitution. 

"Agitation  is  one  thing — lawlessness  another.  The  West  is  turbulent,  but 
not  lawless ;  and  out  of  that  turbulency  and  commotion,  there  arises  the  spirit  of 
the  genius  of  liberty. 

"Today,  Nebraska  throws  open  wide  her  golden  gates  and  summons  to  her 
portals  the  myriads  of  mankind.  To  this  enchanted  city  of  the  plains  she  lures 
with  wizard  wand  the  unnumbered  host  of  other  lands  and  climes.  Superb 
sponsor  of  a  regal  hospitality,  broad  as  the  prairies,  rich  and  varied  as  the  moun- 
tain ranges  which  rear  their  snow-crowned  crests  in  salutation  to  the  sky ;  robed 
in  the  glittering  garments  which  nature  weaves  alone  in  token  of  man's  toil ; 
imperial  in  her  pride,  her  sovereign  brow  tinged  with  the  glow  of  the  approach- 
ing dawn,  she  bids  the  nations  hail." 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  CONSTANTINE  J.  SMYTH 

"Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  This  is  Nebraska's  day.  It  is  on  this 
day  that  we  may  sound  the  praises  of  our  great  commonwealth.  She  bids  her 
sons  do  this,  not  in  the  spirit  of  vanity,  but  that  she  may  be  known  as  she  is.  Not 
one  jot  or  tittle  would  she  take  from  the  glory  of  her  sister  States  who  have 
come  here  to  display  in  these  buildings  and  on  these  grounds  the  evidences  of 
their  growth,  their  wealth  and  their  enterprise.  With  delight  will  she  listen 
when  they  tell  of  their  resources  and  their  triumphs.  To  them  she  extends  that 
welcome  which  becomes  a  generous,  broad-minded  and  truly  American  common- 
wealth ;  and  to  none  will  she  yield  in  admiration  of  their  greatness. 

"If  we  would  understand  Nebraska  as  she  is,  the  work  of  her  sons  in  bring- 
ing her  to  her  present  condition  and  the  probabilities  of  her  future,  we  must 
look  back  and  contemplate,  if  only  for  a  moment,  the  'small  beginnings'  from 
which  she  sprang. 

"In  1834,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  denominated  the  territory  of 
which  she  was  then  a  part  as  'The  Indian  Country.'  It  was,  in  fact,  at  that  time 
the  country  of  the  savage.  The  white  man  had  no  dominion  therein,  and  the  sweet 
word  'home'  was  without  a  meaning  on  all  its  broad  prairies.  Less  than  fifty 
years  ago  the  Omaha  Indians  held  title  to  the  land  on  which  we  stand,  and  the 
entire  white  population  at  that  time  in  this  vast  territory  did  not  exceed  five 
thousand  souls. 

"Not  many  years  after  the  Omahas  ceded  their  title  to  this  territory  to  the 
United  States,  Nebraska's  pioneers  came  and  commenced  the  work  of  home  build- 
ing and  State  building.  The  days  of  the  freighters  followed ;  the  Union  Pacific 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


361 


was  projected  and  finished ;  the  ox-team  gave  way  to  the  freight  train ;  the 
prairie  schooner  to  the  upholstered  car,  and  thus  the  evolution  went  on  until  within 
the  short  span  of  forty-five  years  it  has  culminated  in  the  palaces  of  art  that  lift 
their  classic  outlines  within  the  walls  of  this  Exposition.  Marvelous  has  been 
the  progress. 

"The  surplus  products  of  her  farms  last  year — that  is,  the  products  she  was 
able  to  send  to  market — were  worth  over  fifty-five  million  dollars.  She  has  over 
three  thousand  factories,  with  a  capital  invested  of  forty  million  dollars.  These 
factories  pay  yearly  more  than  thirteen  million  dollars  in  wages,  and  the  value  of 
their  output  is  ninety-five  million  dollars  annually.  Here  on  the  border  of  her  chief 
city  are  located  packing  houses  which  bring  Nebraska  near  to  the  second  packing 
center  of  the  world.  Fourteen  lines  of  railway 
have  a  mileage  of  four  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  carrying  Nebraska's  commerce. 

"This  is  but  a  glimpse  of  Nebraska  as  she  is 
materially ;  how  is  she  in  those  departments  of 
activity  which  develop  the  higher  nature  of  man ; 
which  refine  his  thoughts  and  make  him  a  force  in 
the  dominion  of  taste  and  intellect?  Six  univer- 
sities, twenty-nine  colleges,  seventeen  academies. 
six  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety  common 
schools  and  seventy-five  private  schools  educate 
three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  of  her  sons  and 
daughters.  This  is  Nebraska's  day,  and  this 
Exposition  is  her  palace.  As  she  steps  to  the  main 
entrance  thereof  to  welcome  her  guests  of  the 
Trans-ATississippi  region,  notice  the  inscription  on 
her  shield.  It  illustrates  the  fact  that  she  has  the  lowest  rate  of  illiteracy  of  all 
the  States  of  all  this  Union.  The  National  Government  has  placed  her  per- 
centage at  3.11. 

"How  appropriate,  then,  that  the  representatives  of  this  Trans-Mississippi 
region  should  select  this  State  as  the  place  wherein  to  exhibit  to  the  world  their 
best  specimens  of  the  triumph  of  mind  over  matter,  and  what  specimens  they  are ! 

"If  you  would  see  a  picture  as  beautiful  as  ever  man  created,  contemplate  the 
grand  court  when  illuminated  at  night.  Go  into  the  buildings,  look  at  the  evi- 
dence there  of  what  man  has  done,  and  then  say,  if  you  will,  that  his  achievements 
in  the  Trans-Mississippi  country  have  not  been  surpassingly  great.  But  do  not 
be  surprised,  for  in  this  region  we  possess  the  best  blood  and  brains  of  our  country. 
From  the  East,  and  from  every  nation  under  the  sun,  have  come  to  us  energy, 
independence  of  character  and  irresistible  progressiveness  that  knows  no  halt  until 
it  reaches  its  goal  or  the  grave.  From  what  race  has  sprung  those  men?  The 
Anglo-Saxon?  Those  who  weep  because  we  have  not  lords  and  castles  and 
crests  and  other  evidences  of  barbarism,  answer  'Yes.'  Men  who  deal  in  facts 
and  not  in  fancies  answer,  'No.'  Read  the  names  of  those  who  perished  with  the 


Constahtine  J.  Smyth 


362 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Maine,  who  supported  the  immortal  Dewey,  or  who  went  into  the  jaws  of  death 
with  the  heroic  Hobson.  Were  they  all  Anglo-Saxon?  Who  will  say  so?  Truth 
declares  that  many  races  were  represented  there.  The  Dane  and  the  Swedish ;  the 
Germans  and  the  Irish.  Shoulder  to  shoulder  they  stood  behind  the  guns  of  their 
adopted  country,  offered  their  lives  on  her  altar,  and  thanked  God  that  they  were 
Americans,  the  best  race  that  ever  blessed  the  earth,  the  combination  of  all  that  is 
good  in  all  the  races  of  the  world. 

"Today  Nebraska  sends  greetings  to  the  oppressed  of  every  race  and  of 
every  clime.  To  all,  no  matter  of  what  race  they  come,  who  have  energy,  intelli- 
gence and  industry,  coupled  with  a  love  of  freedom,  she  opens  wide  her  gates 
and  bids  them  welcome.  Here,  under  the  blessings  of  our  free  institutions,  and 
breathing  the  air  of  the  most  healthful  climate  in  the  world,  they  will  have  their 
energy  stimulated,  their  industry  rewarded,  and  their  liberty  protected." 


WISCONSIN   DAY  — June  18,  1898 

The  program  of  exercises  and  comment  on  Wisconsin  Day  have  been  given 
an  appropriate  place  in  Chapter  III,  Part  I,  of  this  History. 

President  John  C.  Koch,  of  the  Wisconsin  Commission,  in  his  address, 
referred  to  the  fact  that  the  dedication  of  Wisconsin  building  at  the  Exposition 
marked  also  the  celebration  of  the  semi-centennial  of  Wisconsin's  admission  to  the 
Union  of  States.  He  spoke  of  the  friendly  relations  which  exist  between  Nebraska 
and  Wisconsin  on  account  of  the  large  numbers  of  natives  of  Wisconsin  who  have 

taken  up  their  residence  in  Nebraska.  The  his- 
tory of  the  origin  of  the  Wisconsin  building 
was  reviewed  briefly,  and  he,  in  a  few  words, 
turned  the  building  over  to  President  Wattles 
for  the  Exposition. 

President  Wattles  accepted  the  building 
on  behalf  of  the  Exposition  management  and 
dedicated  it  in  honor  of  the  semi-centennial 
of  Wisconsin's  history  as  a  State.  Wisconsin 
history  was  reviewed  briefly,  referring  to  the 
fact  that  in  the  original  settlement  of  the 
State  the  Germans  predominated,  as  do  their  descendants  today,  and  he  declared 
that  their  thrift,  industry  and  reputation  as  good  citizens  have  made  the  State 
famous.  The  exceptional  educational  advantages  possessed  by  the  State  were 
referred  to,  and  an  array  of  figures  regarding  the  agricultural  and  farm  products 
was  quoted  showing  the  great  resources  of  the  State.  Reference  was  made 
to  the  fact  that  the  State  had  furnished  enterprising  citizens  to  many  of  the 
Western  States,  and  the  erection  and  dedication  of  the  building  on  the 
Exposition  grounds  declared  a  tie  which  would  still  further  bind  the  two  sections 
together. 


Wisconsin  State  Building 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  363 


Lines  for  the  opening  of  the  Wisconsin  State  building  at  the  Trans-Missis- 
sippi Exposition,  June  18,  1898. 

BY  JOHN  GOADBY  GREGORY. 

Our  wise  third  President,  to  whom  the  pen 

Was  sword  and  scepter,  and  whose  steady  gaze 
Scanned  far  futurity — we  Western  men 

Rightly  accord  him  gratitude  and  praise. 
He,  at  a  stroke,  without  the  stain  of  blood, 

Surpassed  the  ground  the  Revolution  won. 
And  made  the  realm  of  freedom  reach  the  flood 

That  laps  Manila  and  the  setting  sun. 

Here,  where  he  flung  our  banner  to  the  air, 

The  desert  lingered;  forty  years  ago, 
The  savage  faced  the  panther  and  the  bear, 

And  chased  the  bounding  bison  and  the  roe. 
Where  yon  broad  river  then  slow,  winding  flowed 

In  silent  solitudes,  now  dash  the  cars ; 
And  miners  wrest  the  treasure  from  the  lode, 

Where  mountains  thrust  their  tops  between  the  stars. 

See  the  glad  conquest  of  the  treeless  plains 

Whose  fertile  furrows  feed  the  world  with  corn ! 
Contented  farmers  count  the  heaping  gains 

That  pour  from  Plenty's  convoluted  horn ; 
Herds  gather  fatness  from  the  juicy  grass, 

While  useful  swine  and  fleecy  flocks  increase ; 
The  wains  and  reapers  in  procession  pass, 

And  all  the  landscape  sings  of  thrift  and  peace. 

Throned  at  the  entrance  of  this  Greater  West, 

On  bluffs  that  bathe  in  the  Missouri's  tide, 
With  regal  welcome  for  each  dazzled  guest, 

A  queenly  city  throws  her  portals  wide 
And  bids  the  universe  to  festival. 

The  guns  that  doom  the  tyranny  of  Spain 
Drown  not  the  music  of  that  cheerful  call, 

Nor  check  the  multitude  that  crowds  amain. 

Wisconsin,  wearing  on  her  brow  sedate 

The  chaplet  of  her  statehood's  jubilee, 
Comes,  a  blithe  neighbor,  to  the  sparkling  fete, 

With  sage  intention  to  be  seen  and  see, 
Proud  of  her  rich  expanse,  where  ocean  lakes 

To  cities,    farms  and   forests   shout,   "Huzza !" 
With  all  the  land  whose  glory  she  partakes, 

She  swells  the  paean  raised  at  Omaha. 


364  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  C.  QUARLES 

"Wisconsin  men  are  found  wherever  true  Americans  dwell.  Beyond  the 
Alleghenies  and  beyond  the  Rockies  their  influence  is  felt.  No  sooner  have 
their  cabins  been  located  in  the  wilderness  than,  as  if  by  magic,  all  the  institu- 
tions of  civilization  spring  up  about  them. 

"This  Exposition  is  a  great  monument  to  the  ability,  energyy,  taste  and 
culture  of  the  people  of  this  broad  Western  land.  It  may  well  excite  wonder  and 
admiration.  As  we  behold  these  magnificent  buildings  and  all  the  evidences  of 
wealth  and  culture,  we  can  hardly  realize  that  within  the  narrow  span  of  a  human 
life  this  great  prairie  was  a  wilderness,  ripening  for  future  use,  where  every 
autumn  the  dusky  savage,  in  pursuit  of  game,  roamed  over  vast  stretches  of 
country,  whose  surface,  clad  in  a  mantle  of  sombre  brown,  undulated  like  the 
billow  of  the  sea.  While  we  contemplate  in  Europe  the  fate  of  kingdoms  that 
have  been  tottering  for  ages  on  the  brink  of  decay,  slowly  dying  for  a  thousand 
years,  we  behold  our  own  States  growing  to  maturity  within  the  experience  of 
a  generation. 

"It  is  eminently  fitting  that  Omaha,  which  so  well  represents  the  spirit  of 
Western  advancement,  should,  at  the  consummation  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
set  up  in  its  midst  this  magnificent  object  lesson.  As  we  look  about  us  today, 
we  realize  that  we  live  in  the  heart  of  a  republic  whose  shores  touch  either 
ocean,  which  stretches  from  the  frozen  zone  to  the  tropic  lands,  whose  men  and 
women  are  the  demigods  of  industrial  and  intellectual  conquest,  of  and  concern- 
ing whom  it  is  not  necessary  that  any  man  make  explanation  or  apology,  but 
who  stand  upon  the  hilltops  of  civilization,  with  a  national  emblem  representing 
everything  that  is  grand  in  human  life  and  noble  in  human  endeavor. 

"In  casting  the  eye  over  the  map  of  Nebraska,  we  are  thrilled  with  patriotic 
joy  to  see  among  the  names  of  your  counties  those  of  our  Jefferson,  Grant,  Logan, 
Elaine,  Garfield,  Sherman,  Lincoln  and  Washington.  We  feel  that  our  hearts 
are  thus  linked  together  by  the  tie  of  common  devotion  to  the  precious  memory 
of  our  soldiers  and  patriots,  whose  fame  is  a  common  heritage,  and  we  confidently 
rest  in  the  assurance  that  our  children  will  unite  with  yours  in  the  tribute  of 
gratitude  due  to  those,  who,  whether  at  the  north  or  south,  east  or  west,  have  stood 
or  fallen  in  this  country's  cause. 

"Few  of  us  have  realized  the  tremendous  resources  of  our  united  country. 
The  world  failed  to  appreciate  it.  The  events  of  the  last  few  months  have  amazed 
foreign  nations,  as  they  have  quickened  the  pulse  of  America  with  pride  and 
exultation. 

"Wisconsin  presents  to  Nebraska  today,  not  merely  a  beautiful  building, 
as  a  token  of  her  admiration  and  esteem,  but  as  an  older  to  a  younger  sister, 
she  extends  to  you  affectionate  and  well-merited  congratulations  and  the  most 
earnest  wishes  for  the  success  of  this,  your  great  undertaking." 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


3«5 


ILLINOIS   DAY  — June  20,  1898 

For  outline  of  exercises  and  program  for  the  day  see  Chapter  III,  Part  I, 
of  this  History. 

The  addresses  were  as  follows : 

ADDRESS   OF   COLONEL  CLARKE   E.   CARR, 
President  of  the  Illinois  Commission. 

"When  La  Salle  was,  with  his  heroic  followers,  exploring  western  wilds, 
soon  after  leaving  Lake  Michigan  he  came  to  the  head  waters  of  a  river  upon 
which  he  launched  his  canoes  and  floated  down  with  the  current.  The  river 
broadened  and  deepened  as  he  advanced,  and  he  soon  became  convinced  that  it 
belonged  to  the  great  system  which  drained  all  the  vast  region  of  the  Northwest. 


Illinois  State  Building 

He  made  excursions  upon  either  side  and .  found  himself  in  the  midst  of  vast 
meadows  of  waving  grass  which  seemed  illimitable.  One  day  the  party  came 
upon  an  Indian  village  and  found  it  to  be  the  home  of  a  people  who  called  them- 
selves 'Illini.'  He  called  the  region  the  land  of  the  'Illini,'  and  he  called  the  river 
upon  which  he  was  floating  the  river  of  the  'Illini.'  When  he  asked  the  signifi- 
cance of  this  name,  he  found  it  to  be  men,  full-grown,  complete,  or,  as  we  would 
say,  stalwart  men.  From  this  dusky  race  not  only  that  river,  but  our  great  State 
takes  its  name. 

"There  is  scarcely  an  attribute  of  mankind  so  universal  as  that  of  affection 
for  the  region  in  which  our  lot  is  cast;  the  land  which  has  given  us  birth,  or 
which  in  maturer  years  has  received  us  to  her  bosom.  The  heart  of  the  Esqui- 
maux, alike  with  the  inhabitants  of  more  favored  regions,  swells  with  the  liveliest 
emotions  in  contemplating  what  seems  to  him  the  beauties  and  excellencies  of  his 


366 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


own  country.  If  this  emotion  be  a  universal  attribute  to  mankind,  it  can  not 
fail  to  be  more  profound  and  intense  in  proportion  as  those  beauties  and  excel- 
lencies are  real.  There  is  no  true  son  of  Illinois  'Whose  heart  has  ne'er  within 
him  burned'  in  contemplating  the  sublime  glories  of  his  own  State. 

"No  other  commonwealth  can  boast  of  more  enterprising  and  prosperous  cities 
and  towns  and  villages  or  of  more  delightful  rural  homes.  Our  great  metropolis, 
with  her  magnificent  buildings  towering  into  the  skies,  with  her  vast  libraries 
already  provided  for,  with  her  university  and  institutes  and  schools,  with  her 
charities  and  eleemosynary  institutions,  with  her  parks  and  great  avenues,  is 
destined,  with  the  growth  of  architecture  and  the  development  of  art,  to  be  the 
most  resplendent  city  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Millions  of  revolving  wheels  are 
forever  rolling  to  her  great  storehouse  treasures,  'which  far  outshine  the  wealth 
of  Ormus  and  of  Ind,'  and  she  must  very  soon  become  the  most  opulent  and 

populous    city    of    the    western    hemisphere,    and 

finally  of  the  world. 

"But  it  is  of  our  complete,  stalwart  men,  that 
we  are  proud.  They  have  shown  themselves 
worthy  of  the  name  they  bear.  Men  'whose  wrest- 
ling thews  can  throw  the  world.'  Scarcely  had 
the  people  of  Illinois  begun  to  enjoy  the  privileges 
and  appreciate  the  glories  of  full  citizenship  of  the 
Republic  when  almost  immediately  after  the  State 
was  admitted  into  the  Union  the  demon  of  human 
slavery  tried  to  fasten  itself  upon  them.  Though 
most  of  them  were  from  slave  States,  they  met  and 
overcame  the  monster,  and  hurled  it  from  them, 
banishing  it  forever. 

"A  few  years  later,  when  borne  down  and 
overwhelmed  with  debt  and  taxation,  and  the  last 

hope  of  being  able  to  extricate  themselves  seemed  gone,  the  siren  of  repudiation, 
as  she  has  successfully  done  elsewhere,  beckoned  them  to  follow  her  for  relief. 
They  indignantly  repelled  her  and  deliberately,  in  their  fundamental  law,  put  upon 
themselves  a  burden  of  taxation,  and,  after  years  of  self-denial,  paid  the  debt  in 
full,  dollar  for  dollar.  When  the  Mexican  war  came  Illinois  carried  the  banner 
of  the  Republic  on  many  a  victorious  battlefield,  and  finally  assisted  in  dictating 
terms  to  the  enemy  in  his  own  capital.  When  human  slavery  sought  to  fasten 
itself  upon  California  and  Kansas,  Illinois  men  helped  to  drive  it  out.  In  the  war 
of  the  rebellion  Illinois  men  'hewed  their  way  down  the  Mississippi  Valley  with 
their  good  swords/  as  their  greater  volunteer  leader,  whose  achievements  have 
been  commemorated  in  bronze,  said  they  would  do,  and  the  great  river  flowed 
'unvexed  to  the  sea.' 

"The  names  of  the  stalwart  sons  of  Illinois  who  have  won  imperishable 
renown  would  fill  volumes.  One  of  them  conquered  the  sword  of  rebellion,  and, 


Clarke  E.  Carr 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  367 

with  magnanimity  and  generosity  unequaled  in  history,  declined  to  receive  it,  and 
another  is  recognized  throughout  the  world  as  the  sublimest  character  of  the  age. 

"While  there  is  a  tendency  to  exalt  military  genius  above  all  other,  there 
have  been  intellectual  conflicts  in  which  the  laurels  have  been  as  resplendent  as 
those  which  deck  the  soldier's  brow.  In  the  great  debates  before  the  people  of 
Athens,  Demosthenes  gained  renown  which  has  brought  his  name  down  through 
all  the  ages. 

"Just  preceding  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois  we  wit- 
nessed a  campaign  of  public  discussion,  continuing  for  several  months.  As  it 
progressed  from  day  to  day  it  attracted  more  and  more  attention,  until  finally  all 
the  people  of  the  nation  became  interested.  The  great  prairies  were  the  audience 
"room,  the  American  people  the  audience,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
the  platform,  the  greatest  American  statesman  the  champion,  and  the  fate  of 
a  continent  the  issue. 

"The  original  fabric  of  government  was  composed  of  States  bordering  upon 
the  Atlantic,  of  which  the  great  State  of  Pennsylvania  was  appropriately  desig- 
nated as  the  keystone.  Soon  the  adventurous  and  hardy  pioneer  subdued  the 
western  wilds,  new  States  were  formed  and  the  Republic  expanded.  By  the 
Louisiana  purchase,  the  conquest  of  Mexico  and  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon 
boundary,  the  domains  of  the  Republic  have  extended  until  our  boundaries  are 
the  oceans.  Her  adamantine  foundations,  laid  broad  and  deep,  support  the  most 
majestic  edifice  that  has  ever  been  projected. 

"In  the  midst  of  this  mighty  structure  so  amplified  and  extended  from  its 
original  boundaries,  Illinois  appeared.  Through  the  achievements  and  great 
names  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  and  the  deeds  of  our  other 
statesmen  and  heroes,  Illinois  has  so  risen  in  her  central  position  that  from  every 
quarter  of  the  Union  men  and  women  instinctively  lift  their  eyes  to  her,  and  so 
carry  out  the  now  clearly  discerned  will  of  the  Divine  Architect.  She  unites  and 
cements,  and  canopies  with  grace  and  symmetry  and  beauty  the  majestic  edifice. 
As  Pennsylvania  was  appropriately  called  the  keystone,  so  Illinois  may  be 
appropriately  designated  as  the  dome  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States. 

"In  the  midst  of  this  most  splendid  Exposition  of  the  world's  progress  that 
has  ever  been  attempted  and  carried  out  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  region,  equal, 
in  so  far  as  designed,  to  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  and  superior  in  many 
of  its  details,  Illinois  has  erected  a  building.  In  the  work  of  laying  out  and 
erecting  this  building  the  Illinois  commissioners,  representing  every  part  of  the 
State,  have  taken  a  lively  interest.  It  has  been  their  desire,  without  unnecessary 
outlay,  to  have  a  building  that  would  be  worthy  of  the  State  which  has  honored 
them  by  placing  the  important  trust  in  their  hands.  It  has  been  a  labor  of  love, 
and  they  will  feel  amply  compensated  if  their  work  is  approved.  For  them  and 
in  their  behalf,  I  now7  turn  the  building  over  to  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  of 
Illinois,  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you. 

"In  introducing  Governor  Tanner,  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  add  more  than 
a  word.  Some  of  us  have  known  him  from  the  time  when,  a  mere  lad,  he  wore 


368 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


the  blue  uniform  of  his  country.  We  do  not  always  agree  with  him,  but  we 
recognize  his  sterling  qualities.  He  learned  from  Abraham  Lincoln  to  be  just 
and  kind  and  considerate,  and  he  learned  from  General  Grant  to  keep  steadily 
on  in  the  line  of  duty,  unmoved  by  denunciation  on  the  one  hand  or  by  flattery 
on  the  other,  and  he  learned  from  John  A.  Logan,  whose  faithful  and  trusted 
companion  he  was,  never  to  desert  a  friend.  He  is  one  of  the  'Illini.'  " 

ADDRESS  OF  GOVERNOR  JOHN  R.  TANNER  OF  ILLINOIS 

"Mr.  President  of  the  Illinois  Commission  and  Officers  of  the  Trans-Missis- 
sippi Exposition :  It  affords  me  sincere  pleasure,  on  behalf  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
as  its  Governor  and  executive  head,  to  receive  from  the  distinguished  and  genial 
President  of  the  Illinois  Commission  this  commodious  and  elegant  building, 
which  is  not  surpassed,  I  believe,  in  point  of  beauty  or  convenience,  by  any  similar 
structure  upon  these  capacious  grounds.  It  is  a  building  of  which  the  great  State 
^^^^^  I  have  the  honor  here  to  represent  may  be  justly 

proud,  and  I  trust  that  many  Illinoisans  may  see  it, 
rest  beneath  its  hospitable  roof,  and  share  the  senti- 
ment of  admiration  and  approval  with  which  I 
view  it  for  the  first  time. 

"The  people  of  Illinois  have  the  most  cordial 
and  sympathetic  feeling  for  the  State  of  Nebraska 
and  its  citizens.  They  are  largely  the  same  people, 
since  Illinois  has  contributed  so  largely  to  populate 
these  virgin  and  fertile  plains.  I  see  in  this 
audience  of  brave  men  and  fair  women  many  a 
spectator  and  listener  who  was  born  in  Illinois, 
but  for  one  reason  or  another  has  cast  his  or  her 
lot  with  a  younger  community.  To  no  other  State 
in  the  Union,  I  think,  have  we  given  so  many  of 
our  sons  and  daughters.  We  cherish  the  belief 
that  even  Nebraska  can  show  none  better.  They  are  gone  from  us,  but  they  are 
still  of  us.  Their  memories  are  cherished  by  those  whom  they  have  left  behind, 
many  of  whom  will  take  this  opportunity  to  renew  old  ties  of  affection  and  friend- 
ship. It  is  this  common  blood  flowing  through  all  our  veins,  much  of  it  from  the 
founders  of  England  and  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  but  all  of  it,  whether  its 
original  source  was  in  England,  Ireland,  Germany  or  elsewhere,  now  thoroughly 
and  forever  American,  which  is  the  promise,  the  pledge  of  perpetual  union,  of 
every  portion  of  our  common  country. 

"The  mention  of  our  country  at  this  moment  of  national  peril  and  anxiety 
thrills  every  patriotic  heart.  It  is  hard  for  us,  far  removed  as  we  are  from  the 
island  shores  in  two  hemispheres  where  our  destiny  is  even  now  being  shaped 
to  some  unseen  end  by  the  thunderbolts  of  war,  to  command  our  thoughts  and 
hold  them  to  the  peaceful  scenes  which  at  home  greet  our  view.  In  imagination 


Gov.  John  R.  Tanner 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  369 

and  sympathy  we  are  only  partly  here.  Our  hearts  are  with  our  bravest  and 
dearest  in  camp  or  at  sea,  where  the  children  of  Illinois  and  the  children  of 
Nebraska  have  joined  hands  to  purchase,  for  an  alien  race,  at  the  cost  of  their 
own  lives,  if  so  great  a  sacrifice  is  required  of  them,  the  liberty  and  prosperity 
which  we  ourselves  enjoy,  and  of  which  this  magnificent  Exposition  is  the  latest 
and  highest  symbol.  What  a  contrast !  May  we  not  derive  from  it  the  lesson  that 
greater  are  the  triumphs  of  peace  than  of  war?  War  is  destructive,  but  peace 
is  a  creative  force. 

"As  I  look  around  me,  I  pray  for  the  restoration  of  peace,  a  just  and  honor- 
able peace,  a  lasting  peace,  which  shall  usher  in  for  all  mankind  a  brighter  era 
of  humanity  and  universal  brotherhood.  We  can  never  be  again  what  we  have 
been — an  isolated  nation,  selfishly  enjoying  our  immunity  from  international 
responsibilities.  We  have  a  duty  to  discharge  to  the  world  as  well  as  to  ourselves, 
and  the  destruction  of  the  Maine  with  its  gallant  crew  was  the  rude  voice  which 
awakened  us  from  our  dream  of  perpetual  exemption  from  entanglement  with  the 
affairs  of  other  nations,  and  aroused  us  to  a  higher  conception  of  our  duty  as 
to  the  pioneers  of  the  new  Christian  civilization  which  is  to  characterize  the 
coming  century. 

"But  I  have  led  away  from  the  matter  in  hand.  As  Governor  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  I  congratulate  the  commission  which  has  so  well  performed  the  task 
assigned  to  it,  of  preparing  and  presenting  a  fit  testimonial  of  our  friendly  regard 
for  a  sister  State,  and  our  cordial  sympathy  with  its  noble  ambitions. 

"I  thank  you  for  what  you  have  done,  and  now,  in  the  name  of  this  com- 
mission, and  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  Illinois,  I  tender  to  the  officials  in  charge 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition,  this  edifice  for  the  use  of  all  who  may  enjoy 
its  hospitality,  whether  they  be  Nebraskans,  Illinoisans,  or  from  whatever  State 
or  land  they  may  come.  Let  Illinois  and  Nebraska  vie  with  each  other  which 
of  the  two  shall  give  them  the  warmer  welcome." 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  GURDON  W.  WATTLES 

"When  the  Trans-Mississippi  Commercial  Congress  designated  the  city  of 
Omaha  as  the  place  at  which  the  country  beyond  the  Mississippi  should  display 
to  the  world  its  resources  in  the  year  1898,  and  when  the  officers  of  this  Exposi- 
tion had  been  elected,  we  naturally  turned  to  our  neighbors  of  Illinois  for 
assistance  and  advice.  We  recognized,  as  all  must  acknowledge,  that  Chicago 
had  furnished  the  ideal  of  all  future  expositions ;  that  none  could  excel  and  few 
could  ever  equal  that  grand  achievement  of  human  skill  and  genius,  the  'World's 
Columbian  Fair.'  In  architecture,  arrangement  and  installation,  as  well  as  in 
the  excellence,  variety  and  magnitude  of  the  exhibits,  we  realized  we  could  only 
produce  a  shadow  of  that  which  had  reached  so  near  perfection  at  Chicago. 

"It  gives  me  great  pleasure  in  the  presence  of  His  Excellency,  the  Governor 
of  Illinois,  and  in  the  presence  of  these  distinguished  guests,  to  acknowledge  the 


370  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

hearty  cooperation  we  have  received  from  the  officers  of  the  World's  Fair  Com- 
mission and  the  valuable  assistance  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  this  enterprise.  Our 
invitation  to  your  State  to  participate  in  this  Exposition  was  promptly  accepted, 
an  appropriation  was  made  by  your  legislature  and  a  beautiful  and  appropriate 
building  has  been  erected  on  these  grounds.  I  can  not  refrain  from  commending 
the  efficient  work  done  by  your  commissioners.  Their  building  is  one  of  which 
the  State  may  well  be  proud ;  they  have  furnished  it  with  comforts  and  con- 
veniences, and  have  embellished  with  an  artist's  dream  of  the  'White  City'  in  a 
manner  which  can  not  fail  to  meet  the  approval  of  every  loyal  citizen.  This  build- 
ing is  an  honor  to  the  State,  Illinois,  and  a  credit  to  the  Exposition,  and  for  the 
management  I  accept  it  and  dedicate  it  to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the 
citizens  and  all  former  residents  of  your  great  State. 

"We  of  the  vast  Trans-Mississippi  region  renew  this  day  our  allegiance 
and  good-will  to  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  acknowledge  our  appreciation  of  the 
presence  of  her  Governor  and  distinguished  citizens  here  on  this  occasion.  We 
are  proud  of  her  history,  her  wealth,  and  of  her  great  men ;  we  are  proud  of  her 
great  metropolis,  the  growth  and  development  of  which  have  been  an  index  to  the 
progress  of  the  entire  West.  The  prosperity  of  Illinois  and  of  her  metropolis  is 
intimately  associated  with  the  prosperity  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  country. 
Chicago  is  the  great  clearing-house  for  the  larger  part  of  the  surplus  grain  and 
stock  produced  in  the  West.  The  value  of  her  yearly  commerce  in  the  neces- 
sities of  life  can  hardly  be  comprehended.  It  exceeds  the  foreign  exports  of  the 
United  States.  It  exceeds  the  entire  annual  gold  and  silver  product  of  the  world. 
It  exceeds  the  enormous  sum  of  one  billion  dollars.  For  the  product  of  the  West 
which  yearly  finds  a  market  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  her  lines  of  railroad,  which 
radiate  to  all  parts  of  this  country,  return  annually  agricultural  implements  to 
the  value  of  twenty-five  million  dollars,  clothing  to  the  value  of  fifty  million 
dollars,  boots  and  shoes  to  the  value  of  ten  million  dollars,  and  the  products  of 
her  other  factories  in  proportion.  So  active  have  become  the  demands  of  this 
rapidly  developing,  pushing,  thriving  new  territory,  that  the  delay  incident  to 
the  purchase  from  factories  in  New  England  can  not  longer  be  tolerated,  and 
the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  older  States  of  the  West  will  supply  them- 
selves and  their  sister  States  with  all  their  needs.  The  State  of  Illinois  is  rapidly 
becoming  a  manufacturing  center  for  the  West.  The  census  of  1890  showed  an 
increase  of  119  per  cent  in  her  manufacturing  interests  in  ten  years.  Three 
hundred  and  twelve  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  hands  were  then 
employed,  and  the  value  of  the  annual  product  of  her  factories  was  nine  hundred 
and  eight  million  six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  next  census  will  show  a  corresponding  increase. 

"But,  bound  together  as  we  are  by  the  ties  of  commercial  interest,  there  are 
other  cords  that  will  forever  hold  us  as  brothers. 

"The  richest  heritage  of  the  past  century  is  the  men  which  Illinois  has 
given  to  history.  They  belong  to  this  and  all  other  Western  States.  They  were 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  371 

the  product  of  Western  environment.  Only  the  boundless  prairies,  the  free  air 
and  the  blue  skies  of  the  West  could  have  developed  them.  We  have  perpetuated 
their  names  in  our  counties,  cities  and  towns,  and  for  the  greatest  and  best  of  them 
all  we  have  named  our  capital  city.  They  have  made  the  State  of  Illinois 
renowned  in  eloquence,  learning,  statesmanship  and  jurisprudence.  Douglas, 
the  great  tribune ;  Baker,  the  sweet-toned  orator ;  Cartwright,  the  rugged  divine ; 
Trumbnll,  the  constitutional  lawyer ;  Shields,  the  hero  of  two  wars ;  Drummond, 
the  eminent  judge;  Logan,  the  'Black  Eagle,'  who  carried  victory  in  his  fiery 
train ;  Oglesby,  the  unconquerable  soldier  and  wise  statesman ;  Grant,  the 
invincible  leader  of  armies,  the  peerless  hero  and  the  greatest  general  of  the 
century;  Lincoln,  who  stood  at  the  helm  of  the  nation  during  the  darkest  hour 
of  its  peril  and  sealed  its  triumph  with  his  blood.  We  claim  an  interest  in  them 
all,  and  their  memory  must  forever  bind  the  State  of  Illinois  with  bonds  of  steel 
to  the  younger  States  of  the  West. 

"We  appreciate  beyond  expression  this  visit  of  your  Governor  and  these 
distinguished  Illinois  citizens  at  this  particular  time.  When  war  was  first 
declared  with  Spain  the  managers  of  this  Exposition  had  some  fears  that  it 
might  detract  from  the  success  of  our  enterprise,  but  we  have  come  to  realize 
that  blessings  are  often  given  in  disguise.  We  now  know  that  while  war  destroys, 
it  also  gives  new  life  and  that  every  citizen  is  energized  by  the  new  and  patriotic 
influences  that  are  revived  by  conflict  and  strife.  No  better  illustration  of  the 
greatness  and  power  of  our  country  can  be  found  than  in  the  fact  that  thousands 
of  citizens  from  Eastern  States  daily  visit  this  Exposition,  and  that  while -our 
antagonist — one  of  the  oldest  kingdoms  in  the  world — is  straining  every  resource 
to  meet  in  unequal  combat  our  magnificent  forces  at  Manila  and  Santiago,  that 
while  the  bonds  of  Spain  are  begging  a  market  at  thirty  cents  on  the  dollar, 
our  nation's  war  loan  will  be  three  times  over-subscribed  by  our  own  citizens,  and 
that  we  will  not  only  defeat  at  arms  this  dying  relic  of  barbarism,  but  at  the 
same  time  will  hold  here  in  the  center  of  our  territory  a  great  Exposition 
illustrating  the  arts  of  peace  and  promoting  good  will  throughout  the  land. 

"Illinois  is  bound  to  the  West  by  ties  of  consanguinity  and  common  interest. 
Thousands  of  her  former  citizens  are  now  residents  of  this  and  other  western 
States ;  they  are  among  our  most  progressive  and  prominent  men  in  all  depart- 
ments of  business  and  professional  life.  Her  beautiful  home  here  will  renew  old 
friendships  and  form  new  ones.  I  commend  the  wisdom  of  its  erection,  the  beauty 
of  its  design  and  the  friendly  interest  which  prompted  its  conception.  For  the 
management  of  the  Exposition  I  receive  and  dedicate  it  to  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  designed." 


372 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


KANSAS   DAY  — June  22,  1898 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  J.  E.  FROST, 
Vice-President  of  the  Kansas  Commission. 

"May  30,  A.  D.  1854,  was  an  eventful  day.  It  marked  the  beginning  of  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  our  nation  which,  in  its  achievement,  makes  it  possible  for 
us  to  meet  here  today  to  dedicate  this  building  as  a  part  of  this  great  Exposition 
of  the  resources,  development  and  boundless  promise  of  the  mighty  West. 

"On  that  notable  day  Congress  passed  the  act  creating  the  twin  territories 
of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  and  while  the  statesmen  of  that  day  undoubtedly  foresaw 
a  great  future  for  this  then  unpeopled  region,  who  could  have  foreseen  this 
marvelous  growth  which  the  two  States  have  attained  in  the  half  century  that 
has  since  elapsed?  What  prophetic  vision  could  have  revealed  the  scenes 
that  surround  us  here  today,  within  the  boundaries  of  the  territory  carved  out  of 
a  vast  wilderness?  The  twin  territories  become  States,  have  grown  side  by  side 
in  close  friendship  and  generous  rivalry,  surpassing  in  their  attainment  the  fondest 
hopes  of  their  creators,  and  today  they  clasp  hands,  while  Kansas  renders  ready 
tribute  to  the  prowess  of  her  sister  State,  so  exemplified  in  the  splendid  creations 
with  which  we  are  surrounded. 

"I  esteem  it  a  great  pleasure,  a  high  privilege,  on  behalf  of  the  Kansas  Com- 
mission and  of  our  fellow-citizens  of  the  Sunflower  State,  to  welcome  to  the 

dedication  of  the  Kansas  State  building  our  friends 
who  honor  us  with  their  presence  this  morning. 

"We  congratulate  the  managers  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  upon 
their  daring  spirit  and  matchless  pluck  in  conceiv- 
ing and  undertaking  this  great  enterprise,  and 
upon  their  tireless  energy  and  skillful  management 
in  putting  it  in  successful  operation. 

"We  most  cordially  welcome  the  representa- 
tives of  Nebraska  and  of  Missouri  and  of  Io\\a 
and  of  the  great  Northwest,  and  of  the  great  South- 
west, of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  and  of  the 
Pacific  slope,  component  parts  of  this  magnificent 
Trans-Mississippi  domain  ;  we  welcome  our  friends 
from  Illinois,  which  great  mother  has  sent  to  both 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  a  greater  proportion  of  her 
population  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union ;  we  welcome  those  from  the 
Buckeye,  the  Badger  and  the  Hoosier  States  and  from  the  grand  otd  Empire 
State,  from  stanch  New  England,  the  Sunny  South  and  from  all  the  others. 
From  whatever  State  or  territory,  'One  for  all  and  all  for  one,'  you  are  all 
Kansans  by  adoption  today." 


Hon.  J.  E.  Frost 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  373 

In  his  response,  President  Wattles  reviewed  briefly  the  marvelous  progress 
which  had  been  made  in  the  prairie  States  of  the  West  during  the  last  half 
century,  eclipsing  the  progress  of  any  other  section  in  a  similar  time.  In 
commenting  on  this  condition  he  spoke  of  the  peculiar  propriety  of  holding  a 
great  exposition  to  display  to  the  world  the  magnificent  resources  of  this  great 
region.  He  complimented  the  people  of  Kansas  on  the  fine  showing  which  had 
been  made  of  the  resources  of  their  State,  and  especially  on  account  of  the 
handsome  and  commodious  State  building  which  had  been  erected  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  people  from  the  Sunflower  State.  The  grand  results 
of  the  efforts  of  the  Commission  and  the  State  officers  of  Kansas  in  raising  funds 
for  the  exhibit  of  the  resources  of  the  State  were  commended  in  high  terms, 
and  the  promise  of  the  future,  as  indicated  by  the  energy  and  ability  shown  by 
the  State  in  this  instance,  were  cited  by  the  speaker  as  most  encouraging. 
The  resources  and  products  of  the  State  were  discussed  somewhat  in  detail, 
and  in  conclusion  he  expressed  the  hope  that  the  investment  made  in  the 
Exposition  would  be  returned  to  the  State  a  thousand  fold. 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  SILAS  PORTER,  OF  WYANDOTTE 

"Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  This  is  Kansas  Day,  a  Kansas 
audience  and  a  Kansas  building.  Kansas  and  Nebraska  are  renewing  today  an 
acquaintance  formed  forty  years  ago,  when  as  infants  they  were  rocked  in  the 
same  cradle,  and  the  name  of  one  was  never  mentioned  without  the  other.  In  the 
history  of  the  great  conflict  against  the  extension  of  slavery  in  the  new  territories 
of  the  Northwest,  their  names  became  forever  associated,  and  the  acquaintance 
formed  so  early  has  ripened  into  a  warm  friendship.  They  have  kept  step 
together  in  the  grand  march  of  progress,  and  today  their  interests  are  common. 

"Kansas  congratulates  her  young  sister  upon  this  magnificent  Exposition 
and  her  tireless  energy  and  genius  in  creating  here  a  fitting  memorial  of  the 
history  and  development  of  the  great  Trans-Mississippi  territory. 

"We  have  come  to  throw  open  the  doors  of  this  beautiful  building,  which 
represents  in  a  measure  the  dignity  and  hospitality  of  our  State,  and  to  write 
over  these  doors  a  message  of  royal  welcome  to  all  Kansas  friends  who  may 
have  occasion  to  meet  here. 

"Kansas  is  the  central  State.  Her  area  exceeds  that  of  New  England, 
and  her  population  is  about  equal  to  that  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  so  that  every 
Kansan  has  plenty  of  elbow  room.  The  State  is  two  hundred  miles  wide,  four 
hundred  miles  long,  and  all  sunshine.  Today  that  sunshine  falls  upon  a  wheat 
field  of  four  million  acres,  the  southern  edge  of  which  is  ripening  for  the 
harvest.  General  Fremont,  in  his  report  to  the  Government,  in  1850,  said 
that  the  fertile  district  of  Kansas  ended  abruptly  about  one  hundred  miles  west 
of  the  Missouri  River.  'Beyond,'  he  said,  'it  is  wholly  unfit  for  agricultural 
purposes  and  must  ever  remain  so.'  A  single  county  lying  more  than  one 


374 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


hundred  miles  west  of  Fremont's  limit  produced  last  year  eight  million  bushels 
of  corn  and  yields  each  year,  upon  the  average,  more  corn  than  any  other  county 
in  the  United  States.  The  'Great  American  Desert'  is  covered  with  magnificent 
farms  and  orchards,  the  homes  of  a  contented  and  prosperous  people. 

"The  Kansan  is  loyal  to  his  State ;  he  acquires  the  habit  of  thinking  of  his 
State  as  something  real,  of  identifying  himself  with  her  past  history,  her  present 
fortunes  and  her  future  destiny.  And  once  a  Kansan,  always  a  Kansan.  To 
him  the  sun  always  shines  a  little  brighter  there.  If  some  occasion  has  arisen 
necessitating  his  removal  to  another  place,  he  looks  forward  anxiously  to  the 
time  when  he  shall  again  reside  within  her  borders. 

"Kansas  is  both  the  best  and  worst  advertised  State.  Her  name  is  always 
in  the  newspapers.  Any  paragraph  about  Kansas  is  as  sure  of  being  republished 
as  though  it  were  followed  by  the  words  'All  papers  please  copy.'  With  it  all,  the 
State  has  suffered  from  an  undeserved  and  undesired  notoriety.  The  marvelous 

speculation  in  real  estate,  which  reached  its  climax 
about  ten  years  ago,  proved  a  more  costly  experi- 
ence than  all  the  accumulated  disasters  in  Kansas 
history.  When  reason  returned  and  liquidation 
began,  conditions  were  most  unfavorable.  Distrust 
prevailed  in  financial  circles  everywhere ;  a  period 
of  depression  in  all  lines  of  business  almost  unpar- 
alleled set  in ;  low  prices  and,  worst  of  all,  a  partial 
failure  of  crops,  resulted  in  many  Kansas  obliga- 
tions going  to  protest.  The  Eastern  man  with 
money  to  lend  was  largely  at  fault.  He  believed 
that  values  would  continue  to  rise,  and  he  fre- 
quently loaned  up  to  the  limit  of  speculative  values. 
Kansas  loans,  made  with  any  pretense  of  judg- 
ment, have  proven  safe  investments. 
"Kansas  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  the  debtor  class  have  been 
persistently  misunderstood.  Editors  of  newspapers  in  eastern  States,  where  the 
laws  for  a  hundred  years  have  given  the  mortgagor  from  one  to  two  years  equity 
of  redemption,  have  railed  at  the  dishonesty  of  the  Kansas  law  giving  the 
mortgagor  eighteen  months  to  redeem.  But  Kansas  is  not  the  only  State  where 
men  lost  their  heads  in  real  estate  speculation.  The  bankruptcy  measure  is 
not  being  pushed  through  Congress  to  aid  Kansas  bankrupts  alone. 

"The  State  has  much  to  be  proud  of.  Within  her  borders  general  prosperity 
reigns.  The  wise  man  who  prayed  that  he  might  be  given  neither  poverty  nor 
riches  would  find  in  Kansas  an  ideal  home.  We  have  no  millionaires  and  no 
poverty.  The  State  is  long  on  schools  and  academies  and  short  on  jails  and 
poorhouses.  Her  school  fund  is  richer  than  a  'king's  ransom,'  and  she  makes 
the  proud  boast  that  the  percentage  of  illiteracy  among  her  people  is  less  than 


Silas  W.  Porter 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  375 

that  of  any  other  State  or  province  or  country  in  the  world.  And  so  it  happened, 
very  naturally,  that  of  her  three  thousand  soldiers  enlisted  last  month,  every 
one  can  read  and  write.  Her  patriotism  is  as  strong  today  as  in  the  sixties, 
when  she  furnished  more  volunteers  in  proportion  to  her  population  than  any 
other  State. 

"This  building  is  only  a  temporary  structure,  but  it  stands,  for  the  time,  for 
Kansas.  Let  us  dedicate  it  to  the  memory  of  the  brave  men  who  founded  and 
preserved  the  State,  the  loyal,  generous-hearted  men  who  gave  the  best  efforts 
of  their  lives  to  make  Kansas  a  free  State,  an  outpost  of  freedom  planted  upon 
the  frontier  of  civilization,  and  those  others  who  came  after  and  helped  to  preserve 
her  free  institutions  as  a  priceless  heritage  for  us  and  our  posterity.  But  in  a 
broader  sense,  let  us  dedicate  it  to  the  Kansas  that  we  know — the  new  Kansas, 
the  prosperous  Kansas,  without  ache  or  pain  or  cause  of  complaint ;  the  Kansas 
with  nothing  whatever  'the  matter  with  her,'  where  the  Indian  and  the  buffalo 
are  traditions  of  the  past,  where  the  grasshopper  long  ago  ceased  to  be  a  burden ; 
to  debt-paying  Kansas,  with  money  of  her  own  to  lend;  Kansas  from  which 
the  prairie  dog  has  gone  to  join  the  calamity  howler;  Kansas  with  two  millions 
of  prosperous  people  and  ample  room  for  ten  millions  more. 

"War  is  not  an  unmixed  evil.  In  seasons  of  long  peace  men  forget  their 
country  in  pursuit  of  wealth  and  power.  'The  many  fail,  the  few  succeed.' 
Those  who  succeed  become  more  selfish  and  grasping ;  those  who  fail,  discontented. 
Discontent  breeds  social  disorder.  The  demagogue  sees  his  opportunity  and 
anarchy  and  socialism  are  advocated ;  distrust  prevails,  and  men  lose  faith  in 
government.  At  such  times  a  foreign  war  in  a  just  cause  is  a  blessing.  And 
if  the  revival  of  patriotism  which  we  see  all  about  us  shall  drive  out  all  traces 
of  sectionalism  forever,  if  it  shall  lead  men  to  consider  the  welfare  of  their  country 
and  to  lose  sight  of  selfish  ends,  if  it  shall  result  in  sweeping  away  the  social 
disorders  which  seemed  to  threaten  the  stability  of  our  institutions,  it  will  prove 
to  be  worth  all  it  costs  in  blood  and  treasure.  And  Kansans  know  that  our 
State  will  gain  as  much  by  this  revival  of  patriotism  as  any  portion  of  the  Union. 

"Kansas  believes  in  the  destiny  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  to  accomplish  grand 
results  in  the  cause  of  human  liberty,  in  the  interests  of  civilization  against 
despotism.  The  time  may  come  when  outrages  in  America  shall  cease  at  the 
command  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  We  need  have  no  fear  of  a  standing  army  made 
up  of  our  sons  and  brothers.  And  the  navy!  No  longer  it  belongs  to  the  sea- 
coast  States.  Since  the  first  of  May  the  whole  country,  north  and  south,  east 
and  west,  has  claimed  it.  Hereafter,  the  Western  Congressman  who  votes 
against  an  appropriation  designed  to  strengthen  that  arm  of  the  service  will 
have  to  explain  his  vote  to  his  constituents." 


376 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


IOWA  DEDICATION   DAY  — June  23,  1898 

Iowa  Day  has  been  given  appropriate  consideration  in  Chapter  III,  Part  I, 
of  this  History,  as  one  of  the  historical  days  of  the  Exposition.  The  addresses 
of  the  day  were  as  follows : 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  S.  H.  MALLORY, 
of  the  Iowa  Commission. 

After  dwelling  at  some  length  upon  former  expositions,  both  in  the  United 
States  and  abroad,  he  said : 

"Iowa,  the  beautiful  land,  the  garden  of  agriculture,  with  her  fifty-five  thou- 
sand square  miles  of  rich,  fertile,  tillable  land,  traversed  with  clear,  running 
streams,  a  veritable  paradise,  was  less  than  one  hundred  years  ago  untrodden  by 
the  foot  of  the  white  man,  her  ownership  resting  in  Spain,  her  beauties  unknown, 
her  boundaries  not  established  until  1820.  Born  into  a  family  of  States  less  than 
fifty-two  years  ago,  or  about  thirteen  years  after  the  first  cabin  was  built  by  a  white 
man  in  her  borders,  Iowa  now  has  her  whole  area  dotted  with  colleges,  academies, 

schools  and  churches ;  a  population  of  over  two 
million,  and  is  bound  together  by  eight  thousand 
five  hundred  miles  of  steel,  her  railroads  touching 
the  capital  of  every  county  in  her  domain  but  one, 
and  serving  with  her  wide  rivers  on  the  eastern 
and  western  borders  to  carry  her  vast  productions 
to  the  markets  of  the  world. 

"Iowa,  with  a  soil  producing  all  standard 
grains,  grasses,  vegetables  and  fruits  in  abundance, 
is  an  agricultural  State,  standing  first  in  the 
Union  of  States  with  her  crop  of  corn,  and  fourth 
in  the  production  of  all  agricultural  products.  Yet, 
with  her  inexhaustible  deposits  of  coal,  her  metallic 
ores  of  lead,  zinc  and  iron,  she  offers  large  oppor- 
tunities and  possibilities  for  prominence  as  a  manu- 
facturing State.  Thus  Iowa  comes  in  company 
with  her  sister  States,  not  with  a  spirit  of  envy,  but  of  friendly  emulation,  with 
her  quota  of  exhibits.  Her  people,  by  and  through  legislative  enactment,  appro- 
priated the  sum  of  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  to  aid  in  furnishing  an  exhibit  of 
her  varied  industries  and  resources  worthy  of  the  State  at  this  Trans-Mississippi 
Exposition,  and  this  building,  erected  under  the  supervision  of  the  commission 
appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the  State  in  furtherance  of  the  object  sought  by  the 
people  of  the  State,  I,  as  Chairman  of  the  Commission,  now  tender  to  you, 
Governor  Shaw,  that  you  may  dedicate  it  to  the  use  and  purpose  for  which  it 
was  designed. 


S.  H.  Mallory 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  377 

"The  contract  for  the  construction  of  this  beautiful  home  of  the  people  of 
Iowa,  and  their  neighbors  and  friends  of  sister  States,  was  awarded  to  P.  H. 
Wind,  of  Council  Bluffs,  for  the  sum  of  seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-five  dollars,  sixty-three  days  ago.  A  few  years  since,  six  months  would 
have  been  considered  a  short  time  to  erect  such  a  structure.  Mr.  Wind  is  entitled 
to  great  credit  for  the  energy  displayed  in  rushing  the  work  to  completion  in  spite 
of  the  elements.  The  plans  for  the  building  were  prepared  by  Josselyn  and 
Taylor  Company,  of  Cedar  Rapids. 

"The  Commission  desires  to  express  its  obligations  to  President  Wattles 
for  the  many  courtesies  shown>  and  for  the  assistance  rendered  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  work.  President  Wattles  and  his  able  corps  of  assistants  are  entitled  to 
great  praise  for  the  conception,  planning  and  construction  of  this  beautiful  city, 
and  we  predict  it  will  be  the  most  successful  Exposition  yet  held." 

Governor  Shaw  accepted  the  building  in  the  name  of  the  State,  and  turned 
it  over  to  the  Exposition  in  the  following  brief  address : 

"The  State  of  Iowa,  through  its  representatives,  accepts  at  the  hands  of  the 
Iowa  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition  Commission,  this  building, 
designed  by  its  direction  and  erected  under  its  supervision.  It  may  not  be 
inappropriate  to  tarry  in  this  presence  to  make  public  acknowledgment  of  the 
faithful  and  expeditious  service  thus  rendered  by  the  members  of  this  Commission ; 
services  sure  to  be  appreciated  by  those  at  whose  behest  they  were  performed. 
And  now,  as  the  representative  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  I  hereby 
dedicate  this  edifice  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed,  and  commit  the 
same  to  the  care,  custody  and  use  of  the  President  and  management  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  and  International  Exposition,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  add  somewhat 
to  the  interest  and  comfort  of  those  who  may  visit  these  spacious  grounds,  and 
enjoy  the  trophies  of  State  and  national  prosperity  and  greatness." 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  GURDON  W.  WATTLES 

"During  the  last  ten  days,  it  has  been  my  official  duty  and  pleasure  to  speak 
of  the  resources,  progress  and  splendid  achievements  of  a  number  of  Western 
States  at  the  dedicatory  exercises  of  the  buildings  they  have  erected  on  these 
grounds.  I  may  be  pardoned  for  the  sentiments  of  pride  and  gratification  I 
feel  today,  and  for  the  expression  of  these  sentiments  in  the  few  words  I  shall 
say  regarding  the  State  in  which  twenty-five  years  of  my  life  was  spent,  and  in 
the  acknowledgment  I  desire  to  make  of  the  assistance  of  this  State  to  the 
great  enterprise  I  have  the  honor  to  represent. 

"During  the  early  history  of  this  Exposition,  when  doubt  still  lingered  in 
the  minds  of  many  as  to  its  advantages  and  possibilities,  and  while  the  dark  clouds 
of  financial  embarrassment  and  the  devastating  effects  of  drouth  still  hung 
over  the  West,  casting  their  gloom  over  all  the  new  enterprises,  and  for  the 


378 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


time  obscuring  the  sunlight  of  hope  and  prosperity,  at  this  time,  when  many 
of  our  own  citizens,  discouraged  and  disheartened,  were  ready  to  abandon  this 
enterprise,  when  our  nation  was  borrowing  gold  from  Europe  to  protect  its 
credit,  and  when  the  evil  influences  of  inflation  and  speculation  had  destroyed, 
for  the  time,  the  financial  reputation  of  the  West,  then  it  was  that  the  legislature 
of  the  great  State  of  Iowa,  the  first  of  all  the  Trans-Mississippi  States  to  act,  by 
joint  resolution,  asked  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  recognize  this 
Exposition  and  make  an  appropriation  for  a  Government  building  and  an  exhibit 
here.  To  this  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Iowa,  supplemented  by  the  efficient 
work  of  your  representatives  in  Congress,  must  be  given  the  credit  of  having 
extended  this  Exposition  a  helping  hand  in  the  time  of  need. 

"The  Commission  appointed  to  represent  the  State  of  Iowa  here  has  done 
its  work  with  credit  to  itself  and  the  State.  This  magnificent  building,  with  its 
broad  verandas,  artistic  design  and  complete  appointments,  speaks  louder  than 
words,  in  praise  of  their  worth.  It  will  furnish  a  home  for  the  weary,  a  meeting 
place  for  friends,  and  will  return  to  the  State  a  thousand  fold  the  cost,  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  the  State  and  advertising  the  enterprise  and  hospitality 
of  its  people  throughout  the  land.  I  commend  its  design,  the  completeness 
of  its  appointments,  the  wisdom  of  its  conception,  and  for  the  management  of 
this  Exposition  I  accept  and  dedicate  it  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  erected. 
"We  naturally  expect  from  such  a  State  eloquence  like  that  of  Cousins  and 
Dolliver,  statesmanship  like  that  of  Allison  and  Gear,  philanthropy  like  that  of 

Drake,  leadership  like  that  of  the  Clarksons  and 
executive  ability  like  that  of  Kirkwood,  Boies  and 
Shaw;  and  while  in  the  history  of  the  State  of 
Iowa  there  are  no  Lincolns,  Grants  or  Shermans, 
its  history  is  replete  with  the  names  of  many  whose 
wisdom  and  statesmanship  in  times  of  peace  and 
courage  and  leadership  in  times  of  war  have 
rendered  to  the  nation  services  invaluable.  During 
the  late  rebellion,  her  soldiers  were  distinguished 
for  their  bravery  and  endurance.  These  men  were 
gathered  from  the  farms  of  this  then  pioneer  State, 
and  they  were  endowed  with  the  splendid  physique 
and  the  intelligence  and  morality  which  pioneer 
life  on  the  broad  prairies  of  the  West  inspires. 
Their  bravery  in  battle,  their  endurance  and  the 
ability  of  their  leaders,  was  second  to  that  of  no 
other  Northern  State.  And  so  we  are  not  surprised  when  we  read  that  among 
the  gallant  crew  that  went  down  with  the  battleship  'The  Maine'  the  names 
of  several  men  from  Iowa  are  found ;  nor  are  we  surprised  that  when  from 
four  thousand  brave  soldiers  a  crew  was  selected  to  man  a  ship  that  was  to 
sail  into  the  harbor  of  Santiago  to  face  the  fire  of  the  Spanish  guns  and  meet 
almost  certain  death,  one  of  Iowa's  sons  was  chosen. 


W.  B.  Allison, 
United  States  Senator 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  379 

"It  might  be  said  that  a  State  with  such  magnificent  resources,  with  such 
a  history  and  with  such  a  people,  would  have  no  need  to  advertise  to  the 
world  at  an  Exposition  of  this  character,  but  when  we  consider  that  with  the 
same  density  of  population  as  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  Iowa  can  provide 
homes  for  fifteen  millions  of  inhabitants,  and  when  we  consider  that  but  a 
small  percentage  of  the  manufactures  consumed  in  the  State  are  manufactured 
there,  that  with  the  increase  of  wealth  and  population  a  higher  civilization  than 
has  ever  been  known  in  the  world  will  come  from  the  environments  of  citizenship 
under  the  advantages  which  already  exist  within  this  State,  we  can  realize  the 
importance  and  necessity  of  promoting  and  developing  these  resources  to  the 
fullest  extent." 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  JOHN  N.  BALDWIN 

"As  I  wandered  through  the  Exposition  buildings  and  strolled  over  these 
grounds,  I  heard  orators  proclaiming  from  the  exedra,  the  plaza  and  rostrums 
in  State  buildings  the  glories  and  triumphs  of  their  respective  States.  One 
evening  after  a  storm  I  stood  on  the  bridge  of  the  lagoon,  but  a  few  feet  distant 
from  the  spot  where,  only  a  year  ago,  we  laid  the  cornerstone  of  this  great 
enterprise,  and  beholding  this  mighty  monument  to  the  skill,  courage  and  enterprise 
of  the  men  of  Nebraska,  I  thought,  What  has  Iowa,  or  what  has  Iowa  done,  to 
compare  with  this? 

"I  came  Nebraska  Day,  and  heard  that  distinguished  citizen  of  the  Republic, 
whose  heart  is  love  and  tongue  tipped  with  silver,  eloquently  present  the  record 
of  the  resources  and  progress  of  Nebraska.  I  came  Illinois  Day,  and  heard  the 
representatives  of  that  great  commonwealth  give  their  report  of  the  work  and 
worth  of  Illinois,  concluding  with  the  claim  to  the  undisputed  title  to  the  possession 
of  the  third  greatest  commercial  center  of  the  world.  I  imagined  that  on  New 
York  Day,  Bourke  Cochran  would  so  portray  the  history  and  glories  of  the 
great  State  of  New  York  that  we  should  all  seem  to  hear  the  sybils  chanting 
the  springtime  of  the  greatest  empire  on  earth.  Again  I  thought,  What  has 
Iowa,  or  what  has  Iowa  done,  to  compare  with  all  these? 

"Reflecting  on  all  that  I  had  seen  and  heard  and  imagined,  I  venerated  my 
office  and  would  have  despaired  of  my  performance,  had  not  the  power  of 
my  subject  made  me  bold  in  such  a  presence  to  plead  my  thoughts.  It  would 
be  the  drivel  of  idiocy,  unbecoming  a  gentleman  and  unworthy  of  the  State, 
should  I  on  this  occasion  make  any  statement  not  based  upon  careful  investigation, 
and  not  founded  upon  incontrovertible  facts.  I  now  and  here  assert,  my  heart 
beating  with  pride  at  the  utterance,  that,  measured  by  the  standard  of  religion, 
education,  prosperity,  patriotism,  liberty  or  any  great  principle  or  idea  that  makes 
men  better,  nobler  and  happier,  Iowa,  in  the  Union  of  States,  is  the  peer  of  all, 
superior  to  many  and  excelled  by  none. 

"We  dedicate  today  this  beautiful  building  to  the  uses  and  purposes  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition.  It  is  merely  a  type  of  the 


380  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

habitations  of  our  people  at  the  present  time.  A  few  feet  from  here,  and  within 
your  vision,  stands  a  wigwam,  which  has  just  been  opened.  It,  too,  is  a  type — a 
type  of  the  habitations  of  our  people  fifty-two  years  ago.  You  can  not  but 
recognize  the  significance  of  the  change.  The  advancement,  improvement  and 
progress  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Iowa  in  education,  religion  and  material 
interests  have  been  as  striking  as  that  in  their  habitations. 

"This  great  State,  with  its  wondrous  destinies,  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
younger  and  present  generation.  It  belongs  to  us  to  protect,  preserve  and  improve. 
We  must  take  up  the  work  where  the  pioneers  were  compelled  to  let  it  go.  They 
placed  high  the  standard.  Let  us  never  lower  it.  Let  us  look  up  and  listen ; 
look  forward  and  move.  Let  our  every  action  be  prompted  and  performed  in 
accordance  with  that  design  created  by  one  of  the  greatest  philosophers  and  poets : 

"Build  thee  more  stately  mansions,  Oh  my  soul, 
As  the  swift  seasons  roll. 
Leave  thy  low-vaulted  past, 
Let  each  new  temple,  nobler  than  the  last, 
Shut  thee  from  heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast, 
Till  thou  at  length  art  free, 
Leaving  thine  outgrown  shell  by  life's  unresting  sea. 

"I  propose  this  sentiment:  The  State  of  Iowa,  with  a  people  possessing 
affections  deeper,  even,  than  her  soil;  actuated  by  purposes  broader,  even,  than 
is  her  prayer,  and  inspired  by  aims  loftier  than  her  hills,  she  stands  today  first 
in  the  Union  of  States  in  general  contentment,  in  more  evenly  distributed  wealth, 
and  in  universal  prosperity." 

DEDICATION   OF   THE  WIGWAM 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  VICTOR  JENNINGS, 
Mayor  of  Council  Bluffs. 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  We  have  met  here  today  to  dedicate  to  the  uses 
of  this  great  and  grand  Exposition  this  contribution  from  Pottawatamie  County 
and  the  City  of  Council  Bluffs.  As  the  head  of  the  municipal  organization  of 
that  city,  it  becomes  my  duty,  as  it  is  my  pleasure,  to  speak  for  her  on  this 
occasion. 

"To  those  familiar  with  the  beauties  of  Council  Bluffs,  who  know  of  its 
enterprise  and  thrift,  who  are  proud  to  claim  a  place  in  its  citizenship,  it  is 
unnecessary  for  me  to  enter  into  details.  To  those,  however,  who  simply  know 
that  there  is  a  city  called  Council  Bluffs,  but  who  have  not  tested  its  hospitalities 
nor  witnessed  the  unfolding  of  its  many  and  varied  industries,  it  affords  me 
gratification  to  say  that  within  gunshot  of  this  spot,  yet  hidden  almost  completely 
by  its  'eternal  hills/  lies  a  city  of  thirty  thousand  intelligent,  industrious, 
contented  and  happy  people.  It  is  the  capital  city  of  the  largest  county  in  the 
State — a  county  containing  five  hundred  and  eighty-two  thousand  one  hundred 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  381 

and  fifty-six  acres  of  the  richest  land  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  It  is  second, 
if,  indeed,  it  is  not  the  first,  city  in  the  world  in  the  magnitude  of  its  agricultural 
implement  trade.  'Implement  Row'  comprises  blocks  upon  blocks  of  mammoth 
warehouses,  into  which  the  railroads  from  the  East  pour  trainloads  of  implements 
daily,  and  out  of  which  these  same  goods  go  daily  by -the  dozen  lines  of  railroads 
to  almost  every  quarter-section  of  this  great  Trans-Mississippi  territory.  It  is 
a  city  of  schools  and  churches,  and  its  educational  and  moral  tone  is  second 
to  no  city  of  its  size  in  the  United  States.  It  is  a  city  of  fair  women  and  brave 
men,  as  attested  by  the  avidity  with  which  its  daughters  are  taken  from  the 
homes  of  their  parents  to  homes  of  which  they  are  the  inspiration  and  the  head, 
and  the  number  of  soldier  boys  it  has  contributed  to  Uncle  Sam's  armies. 

"The  city  of  Council  Bluffs,  anxious  to  contribute  in  a  material  way  to  the 
success  of  this  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition,  and  because  of 
its  nearness  feeling  almost  a  proprietary  interest  in  it,  unanimously  determined, 
almost  at  the  inception  of  this  great  undertaking,  the  fruition  of  which  we  are 
witnessing  today,  to  be  fittingly  represented  here.  This  determination  led  to 
the  purchase  of  stock  of  the  Exposition,  to  the  calling  of  public  meetings,  and 
the  organization  of  an  association  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  see  to  it  that 
Council  Bluffs  should  be  seen  and  known  by  all  who  came  within  these  enchanted 
grounds  during  the  period  of  the  Exposition.  It  was  a  difficult  task  assigned 
to  these  men,  but  nobly  have  they  discharged  it. 

"The  Wigwam  tells  better  than  can  words  of  mine  the  wonderful,  the 
miraculous  development  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  country.  The  footfall  of  the 
red  man  following  his  well-known  trails  has  given  place  to  the  whir  of  the 
electric  motor  as  it  moves  along  the  glistening  lines  of  steel.  The  smoke  of  the 
'wigwam'  has  faded  away  before  the  smoke  of  factory  and  forge.  The  silence 
of  national  peace  has  gone  forever,  succeeded  by  the  never-ending  hum  of 
industry.  The  plains  and  valleys  are  no  longer  the  waste  places  of  the  earth, 
but  have  been  made  the  garden  spots  and  granaries  of  the  world. 

"To  the  purpose  of  the  Exposition,  this  Wigwam  is  today  dedicated.  To  the 
city  which  gives  it  in  part,  I  cordially  invite  you.  The  trails  are  plainer  than 
they  were  a  half  century  ago,  and  the  hearts  of  our  people,  like  the  doors  of  their 
'wigwams,'  are  ever  open  to  you.  We  want  you  to  come  and  break  bread 
with  us,  smoke  with  us  the  pipe  of  peace,  rest  body  and  mind  in  the  prettiest 
parks  between  the  two  ranges  of  mountains,  and  going  back  over  the  years,  find 
a  new  meaning  in  Longfellow's  lines : 

Very  spacious  was  the  wigwam, 
Made  of  deerskin  dressed  and  whitened, 
With  the  gods  of  the  Dakotas 
Drawn  and  painted  in  its  curtains." 


382  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

SWEDISH-AMERICAN   DAY  — June  24,  1898 

Swedish-American  Day  was  one  on  which  the  visitors  from  the  East  were 
given  an  object  lesson  well  worth  their  while  in  having  taken  the  time  from 
their  busy  avocations,  and  incurred  the  expense  of  the  long  journey  to  witness 
and  study  the  evidences  of  development  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  territory.  The 
emigrants  from  the  "Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun"  to  this  land  of  freedom  and 
prosperity  had  not  tarried  in  the  East,  but,  following  the  instincts  of  their  bright 
mental  inheritance  from  their  sturdy  forefathers,  had  drifted  into  the  West. 
The  early  days  of  their  emigration  were  coincident  with  the  commencement  of 
the  marvelous  development  of  railway  construction  after  the  close  of  the  civil  war, 
in  the  Trans-Mississippi  territory,  and  there  they  found  lucrative  employment 
at  wages  which,  compared  with  wages  in  their  own  country,  made  them  wealthy 
and  independent,  in  their  own  estimation,  at  the  outset.  Acquiring,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  means  they  required,  they  forged  on  to  the  boundless 
agricultural  regions  which  were  then  to  be  purchased  for  the  pittance  of  the 
expense  of  filing  and  recording  the  necessary  applications  and  evidences  of 
title  from  the  United  States  Government  in  the  latitude  and  in  the  climate  of 
their  native  land.  Quietly  and  unostentatiously  they  had  taken  possession  of 
certain  districts,  until  they  had  become  a  power  recognized  as  entitled  to  full 
representation  in  their  rights  as  American  citizens,  and  withal  adopted  as  among 
the  most  useful  and  aggressive  factors  in  the  development  of  this  great  land. 
It  was  fitting  that  a  day  should  be  set  apart  for  this  people  in  order  that  the 
world  might  see  and  know  the  possibilities  in  this  land  of  the  free. 

The  day  was  spent  in  enjoyment  of  the  varied  sight-seeing  and  amusement 
features  of  the  Grand  Court,  the  exhibits  and  the  Midway.  To  the  exercises 
of  the  day  the  evening  was  dedicated. 

The  festival  of  song,  which  was  held  in  the  Auditorium,  was  the  principal 
feature  of  the  exercises,  and  attracted  one  of  the  largest  audiences  which  had 
occupied  that  structure  since  the  opening  of  the  Exposition.  There  was  not  a 
vacant  seat  on  the  lower  floor,  and  very  few  remaining  in  the  gallery,  when  the 
exercises  commenced. 

The  front  of  the  stage  was  prettily  decorated  with  palms  and  other  foliage 
plants,  and  these,  with  the  bunting  hung  from  the  ceiling  and  about  the  front 
of  the  gallery,  gave  the  interior  of  the  great  building  a  festival  appearance  in 
keeping  with  the  character  of  the  occasion.  Flags  in  profusion  were  used  in  the 
decoration,  "Old  Glory"  predominating,  and  the  national  colors  of  Sweden  being 
on  every  side.  At  the  front  of  the  stage  sat  the  speakers  of  the  evening  and  the 
Jubilee  Committee  which  had  arranged  the  great  celebration,  including  the 
following  Swedish-American  citizens  of  Omaha :  C.  O.  Lobeck,  President ; 
T.  H.  Johnson,  Vice-President ;  T.  G.  Northwall,  Treasurer ;  John  S.  Helgren, 
Secretary ;  C.  W.  Johnson,  C.  W.  Anderson  and  Albin  Liljegren.  Back  of  these, 
extending  tier  upon  tier  to  the  great  organ  rearing  its  lofty  front  at  the  back 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  383 

of  the  stage,  sat  the  Swedish  Jubilee  Chorus  of  two  hundred  and  nine  voices, 
made  up  of  members  of  choirs  from  all  the  surrounding  country.  The  body 
presented  a  pleasing  appearance,  with  the  women  in  dresses  of  light  colors  in 
various  shades,  while  the  men  all  appeared  in  black. 

The  exercises  were  opened  by  President  C.  O.  Lobeck,  who  presented 
President  Wattles  of  the  Exposition,  who  briefly  said  that  he  realized  that  the 
company  had  come  to  hear  music,  not  speeches.  He  contented  himself  with 
bidding  the  people  welcome  to  the  White  City  and  inviting  them  to  come  again 
and  carefully  inspect  the  many  things  which  had  been  collected  to  educate  the 
people  of  the  world  regarding  the  vast  resources  of  the  West. 

President  Lobeck  then  introduced  the  chairman  of  the  evening,  Rev.  A.  J. 
Lofgren,  of  Lincoln,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Swedish  Methodist  Church,  who 
made  a  short  address  in  Swedish,  saying  it  was  highly  fitting  that  a  day  which 
had  been  so  auspicious  should  be  closed  with  a  feast  of  song.  He  said  that  every 
good  Swede  rejoices  in  every  success  of  American  arms,  and  they  also  rejoice 
in  every  triumphal  advance  made  by  science  and  education.  He  characterized 
the  Exposition  as  a  great  exemplification  of  the  triumph  of  the  good  and  pure  in 
life,  and  complimented  the  management  which  had  brought  about  such  good 
results.  The  speaker  also  referred  to  the  fortuitous  circumstances  which  had 
resulted  in  bringing  together  the  representatives  of  the  various  denominations 
in  a  grand  celebration  of  a  national  feast  day,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  this 
was  only  the  beginning  of  a  grand  era  of  harmony,  when  all  the  natives  of  the 
old  fatherland  shall  be  united  by  a  bond  of  unity  and  common  interest. 

The  first  choral  number  was  the  psalm  CL,  and  the  volume  of  sound  which 
was  called  forth  at  the  bid  of  the  baton  wielded  by  Professor  Edgren  fulfilled 
the  anticipations  of  the  audience.  The  chorus  was  well  balanced,  and  the  manner 
in  which  the  selection  was  rendered  spoke  volumes  for  the  capabilities  of  the 
singers  and  the  vigorous  training  required  to  produce  such  unison  of  execution 
in  the  short  time  the  many  sections  comprising  the  choir  had  been  together. 

The  next  number  was  a  soprano  solo  by  Miss  Emma  Moeller,  of  Omaha. 
She  sang  the  recitative  and  aria,  "With  Verdure  Clad,"  from  Haydn's  "Creation." 
She  was  enthusiastically  applauded  and  presented  with  a  large  bunch  of  American 
Beauty  roses,  responding  with  an  encore  which  was  also  vigorously  applauded. 

A  male  chorus,  "Hear  Us,  Svea,"  was  the  next  number,  and  then  Rev. 
J.  A.  Hultman,  formerly  of  Omaha,  but  now  a  resident  of  Chicago,  was  announced 
to  sing  a  baritone  solo.  He  was  greeted  with  a  perfect  ovation,  the  applause 
being  hearty  and  prolonged,  continuing  for  several  minutes,  during  which  the 
singer  acknowledged  the  warm  welcome  from  his  old  friends  by  frequent  bows. 
Quiet  was  finally  restored,  and  he  began  his  song.  Time  had  only  served  to 
strengthen  and  improve  the  rich  quality  of  a  beautiful  voice,  and  the  breathless 
attention  which  prevailed  during  the  singing  was  succeeded  by  a  burst  of  applause 
which  shook  the  house.  For  several  minutes  the  applause  continued,  and  only 
when  it  was  seen  that  the  singer  was  about  to  respond  with  another  song  did 
the  enthusiasm  subside.  "Jerusalem"  was  selected  for  the  encore,  and  served  to 


384 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


bring  out  the  beautiful  qualities  of  the  voice  of  the  singing  preacher  in  the 
most  pleasing  manner.  Again  he  was  applauded,  but  the  audience  was  obliged  to 
be  satisfied  with  a  bow. 

Dr.  J.  A.  Enander,  editor  of  "Hemlandet,"  of  Chicago,  formerly  editor  of 
the  "Swedish  Journal,"  of  Omaha,  read  a  poem  of  his  own  composition,  written 

especially  for  the  occasion.  It  was  quite  lengthy, 
and  dealt  with  patriotism  and  love  for  the  adopted 
country  as  well  as  for  the  Fatherland.  The 
beauties  of  both  countries  were  extolled,  and  many 
beautiful  ideas  of  a  patriotic  nature  were  expressed. 
The  Jubilee  Chorus  then  sang  "The  Singers' 
March,"  by  J.  A.  Dahlstrom,  in  a  very  catchy, 
martial  style,  and  was  liberally  applauded. 

My  i  Rev.  Carl  Swensson,  of  Bethany  College,  at 

^^^1  /     Linsborg,  Kansas,  one  of  the  most  prominent  of 

V     tt        *^^j^MB|  Swedish-Americans,  was  the  orator  of  the  evening. 

Ik  If         He  spoke  for  nearly  two  hours  in  Swedish,  compli- 

A  ""  menting  the  people  of  this  vicinity  in  the  enterprise 

^^^^      ,  which  had  brought  so  many  of  them  together  on 

^  this   occasion,    and    spoke   glowingly   of   the   land 

Rev.  Carl  Swensson,  D.  D.  i   •    i        1       j          •  ^i  11      i_  •    .,1  TT  r  J 

which    had    given    them    all   birth.      He    referred 

somewhat  in  detail  to  the  various  portions  of  Sweden,  and  extolled  the  bravery 
of  the  men  and  the  beauty  and  the  home  qualities  of  the  women.  The  discovery 
of  America  by  Lief  Erickson  was  referred  to  with  pride  by  the  speaker,  and  he 
recalled  the  fact  that,  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  it  was  another  native  of 
Sweden,  John  Ericsson,  who  invented  the  famous  vessel  which  changed  the 
tide  of  battle  in  favor  of  the  Union.  He  declared  that  it  was  the  duty  of  every 
loyal  Swede  to  lend  his  assistance  in  the  relief  of  the  suffering  in  Cuba,  and 
administered  many  words  of  advice  and  patriotism.  He  was  frequently  applauded, 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  address  the  applause 
was  very  emphatic  and  continued. 

The  program  concluded  with  a  Jubilee  Cantata 
by  Adolph  Edgren,  introducing  solos,  duets  and 
mixed  choruses.  It  was  well  rendered  and  loudly 
applauded.  ^ 

MONTANA  DAY— June  29,  1898 

The  location  of  the  Montana  building  gave  it 
prominence,  being  on  the  main  avenue  leading 
south  from  the  esplanade,  and  near  the  entrance 
to  the  Bluff  tract  from  Sherman  avenue.  The 
building  was  well  arranged,  and  under  the  able 
supervision  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Sutherlin,  Exposition 
Vice-President  for  Montana.  The  Montana  R.  B.  Smith 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  385 

building  and  exhibit,  both  of  which  reflected  great  credit  on  the  State,  were  made 
possible  by  the  liberal  donation  of  Mr.  Marcus  Daly,  who  pledged  the  delegation 
that  visited  Montana  to  promote  the  Exposition  in  the  winter  of  1897  a  donation 
of  fifteen  thousand  dollars ;  the  legislature  afterwards  appropriated  a  like  amount, 
and  the  exhibits  from  that  State  and  the  building  erected  by  the  Commission  were 
placed  in  charge  of  Vice-President  Sutherlin. 

The  exercises  dedicating  the  building  to  the  uses  for  which  it  had  been 
erected  were  held  at  four  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  while  simple,  were  impressive.  The 
program  consisted  of  a  short  address  by  Vice-President  Sutherlin,  several  musical 
selections,  and  an  address  by  President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  and  was  concluded 
by  a  luncheon  served  by  the  Montana  Commission. 

TURNERS'  DAY  AND  MUSICAL  CONGRESS  DAY  — June  30,  1898 

For  many  weeks  the  Turners  of  Omaha  and  many  other  cities  throughout 
the  West  had  looked  forward  to  this  celebration  and  the  drills  for  prizes  that 
were  to  take  place  on  the  Exposition  grounds  with  much  interest.  They  gathered 
early  and  in  large  numbers.  The  principal  drill  was  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening 
on  the  plaza.  In  this  drill,  about  four  hundred  Turners  participated.  Other 
exercises  were  had,  and  withal  the  day  proved  a  great  success. 

THE  MUSICAL  CONGRESS 

The  principal  sessions  of  the  Musical  Congress  were  held  in  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Omaha,  but  the  principal  musical  feature  of  the 
Congress  was  the  oratorio  of  "Isaiah,"  written  and  rendered  by  American 
singers  in  the  Auditorium  building  in  the  evening.  Mr.  Willard  Patten,  the 
composer,  and  his  Minneapolis  choral  organization  of  250  voices,  came  by  special 
train  for  this  rendition.  The  orchestral  features  were  rendered  by  the  entire 
Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra,  and  the  following  soloists  participated :  Mrs. 
Genevieve  Clark  Wilson,  Chicago,  soprano;  Miss  Katharine  Fiske,  New  York, 
contralto ;  Mr.  Frederich  Carberry,  Chicago,  tenor ;  Mr.  Charles  Clarke,  Chicago, 
baritone.  The  audience  taxed  the  capacity  of  the  large  auditorium,  and  the 
enthusiasm  was  strong  and  spontaneous. 

The  interest  in  all  the  meetings  of  the  Musical  Congress  was  great,  and  the 
results  were  most  satisfactory  to  all  musicians. 

Mrs.  Winona  S.  Sawyer,  of  the  Bureau  of  Education,  speaking  of  the  aims 
and  purposes  of  the  Bureau  in  arranging  a  musical  congress  in  connection  with 
the  Exposition,  said,  among  other  things : 

"With  the  first  month  of  the  Exposition  as  a  prelude  to  a  grand  symphony, 
the  beauty  of  the  architecture  and  the  arrangement  of  the  buildings  suggestive 
of  the  allegro  movement,  the  labor  of  the  patience  and  anxiety  requisite  to  secure 
these  results  typical  of  the  andante,  the  entertainment,  amusement  and  pleasure 
intimating  the  scherzo  movement,  we  prize  this  Congress  coming  at  this  time. 


386  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

It  stands  out  like  a  fugue  subject,  with  strong,  marked  features  of  lofty  inspiration 
and  high  ideals  which,  once  introduced,  will  be  again  and  again  taken  up  and 
repeated  successively  in  various  keys  and  various  harmonies  throughout  the 
Exposition." 

TEXAS  MELON  DAY  — July  1,  1898 

The  Texas  Exposition  Commission,  supplementing  their  general  exhibit  at 
the  Exposition,  set  apart  this  day  to  show  to  the  world  the  beauty  and  demonstrate 
the  good  quality  of  their  product  of  watermelons.  Twelve  hundred  melons  were 
provided  for  the  feast,  which  occurred  at  5  o'clock  p.  m.  The  distribution  was 
made  the  occasion  for  brief  ceremonies  at  the  Horticultural  building. 

S.  J.  T.  Johnson,  Exposition  Vice-President  for  Texas,  and  Superintendent 
Atwater,  in  charge  of  the  Texas  exhibits,  made  short  addresses,  which  were 
responded  to  on  behalf  of  the  Exposition  by  General  Manager  T.  S.  Clarkson. 
This  concluded  the  formalities  of  the  occasion. 

Long  tables  had  been  provided  upon  which  to  carve  and  serve  the  luscious 
fruit,  and  a  force  under  the  direction  of  Arthur  Nelson,  Superintendent  of  the 
Missouri  horticultural  exhibit,  was  kept  busy  until  the  last  melon  had  vanished 
from  sight.  Some  of  the  melons  weighed  nearly  forty  pounds,  and  it  was 
estimated  that  ten  thousand  persons  were  served  during  the  feast. 

NATIONAL   COUNCIL  OF   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES 

July  2,  1898 

A  large  number  of  delegates  en  route  to  the  meeting  of  the  National  Council 
of  Congregational  Churches,  to  be  held  at  Portland,  Oregon,  stopped  at  Omaha 
to  visit  the  Exposition,  and  the  local  society  made  their  visit  the  occasion  of  a 
special  gathering  and  demonstration  at  the  Boys'  and  Girls'  building  on  the 
Exposition  grounds. 

There  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  prominent  clergymen  from  eastern 
cities,  besides  many  of  their  friends  and  laymen,  and  the  auditorium  of  the 
Boys'  and  Girls'  building  was  well  filled  when  they  gathered  at  four  o'clock  for 
the  brief  exercises  and  exchange  of  formalities. 

Reverend  S.  Wright  Butler  presided,  and  by  his  many  witticisms  kept  the 
audience  in  good  humor.  He  introduced  President  Wattles,  who  extended  a 
hearty  welcome  to  the  distinguished  guests. 

Ex-Governor  Coffin,  of  Connecticut,  responded  briefly.  A  vote  of  thanks 
was  then  moved  by  Dr.  Hazen  to  the  people  of  Omaha,  and  to  the  Exposition 
management  for  the  generous  entertainment  which  had  been  accorded.  Dr. 
Lamson,  of  Hartford,  closed  the  speaking.  The  music  of  the  day  was  rendered 
by  Mrs.  G.  W.  Johnson,  Miss  Kellogg  and  Mrs.  A.  G.  Edwards,  all  of  Omaha. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


387 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY  — July  4,  1898 

An  outline  of  the  exercises  of  Independence  Day  was  given  an  appropriate 
place  in  Chapter  III,  Part  I,  of  this  History.  The  oration  of  the  day  was  as 
follows : 

ORATION  OF  HON.  JAMES  M.  BECK,  OF  PHILADELPHIA 

"AS  AN  EAGLE  STIRRETH  UP  HER  NEST" 

"My  Fellow-Countrymen :  From  the  city  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
where  Henry  spoke,  Jefferson  wrote,  Franklin  counseled,  Adams  debated,  Morris 
administered  and  Washington  unsheathed  his  sword,  within  whose  walls  is 
Germantown,  and  near  to  whose  gates  are  Brandywine  and  Valley  Forge,  I  bring 
you  a  fraternal  greeting.  Philadelphia  felicitates  Omaha.  Pennsylvania  salutes 
Nebraska  and  her  sisters  of  the  Great  West.  They  congratulate  you  on  this 
imposing  pageant  of  art  and  industry,  representing  the  resources  of  a  section 
over  which,  when  the  great  Declaration  was  given  to  the  world,  the  banner  of 
Spain  floated  in  triumph.  Its  marvelous  growth  under  free  institutions  is  a 
vindication,  beyond  the  power  of  mere  words,  of  those  sublime  truths  to  which 
our  fathers  gave  undying  expression  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  years  ago  today. 

"In  the  contrasts  of  history  can  be  often  seen  the  divine  purpose,  which 
runs  through  the  ages.  When  La  Salle,  in  1682,  traversed  the  Mississippi,  and, 
standing  at  its  mouth,  claimed  the  vast  territory  which  it  drained  for  his  royal 
master  and  named  it  in  his  honor,  'Louisiana,'  the  grand  monarque  was  even  then 
constructing  in  the  insolence  of  his  unbridled 
power,  and  on  a  scale  of  imperial  magnificence,  the 
palace  of  Versailles.  Its  splashing  fountains,  end- 
less chambers  of  crystal,  flowery  parterres  and 
gorgeous  frescoes  proclaimed  the  power  of  the 
so-called  'Sun  King,'  whose  'I'Etat  c'est  Moi'  was 
the  extreme  of  regal  despotism.  Later,  this  Trans- 
Mississippi  region,  after  languishing  beneath  the 
yoke  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons,  became  part  of 
Napoleon's  dream  of  universal  empire.  It  is  an 
inspiring  reflection  that  the  hand  which  drafted 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  rescued  this  vast 
empire  from  the  iron  grasp  of  the  modern  Caesar 
and  dedicated  it  to  free  institutions  forevermore. 
Vanished  is  the  power  of  the  'Sun  King,'  Spanish 
Bourbons  and  the  granite-souled  Emperor.  The 
tyranny  which  created  that  wonderful  apotheosis  of  personal  absolutism,  the 
palace  of  Versailles,  has  been  swept  away  by  the  dynamic  force  of  democratic 
ideas,  and  today  in  this  region,  once  believed  to  be  a  desert,  but  now  the  home 
of  twenty-two  millions  of  freemen,  the  people  have  erected  these  splendid  palaces 
of  triumphal  democracy. 


James  M.  Beck 


388  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"We  can  reverently  thank  the  Ruler  of  Nations,  by  whose  ordinance  the 
Republic  came  into  being  and  to  serve  whose  wise  purposes  it  continues  to  exist, 
that  upon  no  preceding  anniversary  has  our  country  exercised  so  wide  an 
influence  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  nor  used  it  for  any  loftier  or  nobler 
purpose.  The  Republic  is  in  arms  today  not  because  it  loves  peace  less,  but 
because  it  loves  justice  more.  Never  did  nation  make  war  with  a  less  selfish 
purpose.  The  American  people,  until  patience  had  ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  sympa- 
thized with  their  noble  President  in  the  wish  that  this  cup  of  bitterness  might 
be  spared  our  lips.  No  lust  of  military  glory  or  territorial  aggrandizement 
inspired  our  nation.  We  had  been  slow  to  believe  the  oft-repeated  stories  of 
medieval  barbarities  in  Cuba,  and  our  traditional  policy  was  opposed  to  inter- 
vention in  the  domestic  affairs  of  another  power.  A  certain  spirit  of  noblesse 
oblige  restrained  us  from  striking  a  weaker  foe,  even  in  a  just  cause.  It  was  not 
until  a  daughter  of  Nebraska  had  died  in  Cuban  waters,  and  her  husband,  its 
honored  Senator,  had,  in  a  speech  of  great  eloquence  and  yet  greater  pathos, 
given  us  'the  true  and  sensible  avouch  of  his  own  eyes,'  that  our  pacific  purposes 
gave  place  to  the  passionate  indignation  of  freemen,  that  the  spirit  of  the 
crusader  swept  through  our  veins,  and  the  cry,  'God  wills  it,'  was  heard  on  every 
hand.  We  then  took  a  high  resolve  in  the  spirit  of  our  fathers,  that  our  blood 
should  be  as  dust  and  our  treasure  as  water  to  stop  this  barbarity  forever.  W7e 
have  thus  disproved  the  libel  against  the  American  character,  that  our  aims  are 
purely  material,  and  that  our  unequaled  growth  in  wealth  has  choked  the  finer 
sensibilities  of  the  soul.  Let  those  who  heard  unheeded  the  moan  of  the  Cretan 
and  the  death  rattle  of  the  Armenian,  and  yet  taunted  us  with  the  blind  worship 
of  wrealth,  forever  hold  their  peace !  We  have  vindicated  the  rights  of  humanity 
and  shown  that  there  is  one  nation  whose  conscience  is  not  dead,  and  of  whom  it 
can  not  be  truly  said  that  the  'age  of  chivalry'  is  gone  and  one  of  the  calculators 
and  economists  has  succeeded.  We  are  moved  by  his  spirit  who,  a  generation 
ago,  believed  that  the  elemental  demands  of  justice  rose  higher  than  mere  form, 
precedent  or  convention.  Though  dead,  John  Brown  yet  speaketh,  and  'his  soul 
is  marching  on.'  The  old  bell  which  more  than  a  century  ago  rang  out  our 
freedom,  though  mute  to  the  ear  of  flesh,  is  still  grandly  proclaiming,  even 
to  the  islands  of  the  sea,  'liberty  throughout  all  the  land  and  unto  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof.' 

"As  we  meet  this  morning,  we  can  give  especial  thanks  for  the  swift  and 
triumphant  vindication  of  our  cause.  With  the  proud  fleet  of  Cervera  annihilated 
and  Santiago  doomed,  the  vulture  of  Spanish  oppression  lies  prostrate  under 
the  talons  of  the  eagle.  Again  the  great  Declaration,  whose  basic  principle  is 
the  political  equality  of  the  individual,  has  been  justified  in  the  splendid  manhood 
and  invincible  bravery  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors.  With  fear  and  trembling 
many  awaited  the  dawn  of  this  day,  lest  our  brave  sons  at  Santiago,  facing 
a  hidden  and  powerful  foe  under  conditions  of  unparalleled  difficulty,  should 
be  betrayed  into  disaster  by  their  very  confidence.  But  fear  is  past,  and  only 
the  songs  of  triumph  are  now  heard  throughout  the  land.  The  citizen  soldiery 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  389 

of  the  Republic,  at  whose  martial  prowess  supercilious  foreign  critics  sneered, 
have  again  given  immortal  proof  to  the  world  that  'our  flag  is  still  there.' 

"Our  rejoicing,  however,  may  well  be  tempered  today  by  the  appreciation 
of  the  tremendous  responsibilities  which,  by  no  wish  or  purpose  of  ours,  are 
suddenly  devolved  upon  us.  Dewey's  genius  and  valor,  not  unworthy  of  a  land 
which  gave  Paul  Jones,  Greble,  Bainbridge,  Decatur,  Porter  and  Farragut  to 
history,  have  blazed  the  path  to  victory,  and  have  confronted  the  American 
people  with  a  responsibility  more  momentous  and  pregnant  with  future  con- 
sequences than  has  ever  weighed  upon  our  nation  on  any  natal  anniversary  since 
the  Civil  War.  That  involved  our  existence :  this  may  define  our  position  and 
relations  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  To  give  back  the  conquered  territory  to  Spain 
may  be  to  subject  a  weak  and  helpless  people  to  its  vindictive  revenge ;  to  give 
these  various  possessions  in  two  hemispheres  to  their  own  people  may  be  to 
make  them  the  prey  for  the  powers  of  Europe,  whose  selfish  greed  for  territory 
is  now  finding  expression  in  China ;  for  us  to  surrender  these  conquered  islands 
to  any  other  nation  is  to  incur  the  enmity  of  the  rest,  and  perhaps  involve 
civilization  in  a  war  which  might  wrap  the  world  in  its  devouring  flame;  and 
yet,  to  annex  them  permanently  to  the  Republic  is  to  cross  a  greater  Rubicon 
than  that  at  whose  brink  even  Caesar  halted,  and  with  consequences  scarcely 
less  momentous.  Jefferson's  words  to  James  Monroe,  which  inspired  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  may  well  be  recalled  as  applicable  to  the  present  crisis  in  our  national 
life.  'The  question,'  he  said,  'is  the  most  momentous  which  has  ever  been  offered 
to  my  contemplation  since  that  of  independence ;  that  made  us  a  nation,  this 
sets  our  compass  and  points  the  course  which  we  are  to  steer  through  the  ocean 
of  time  opening  on  us.' 

"Is  the  western  hemisphere  large  enough  for  the  influence  and  progress  of 
the  American  people,  or  must  we  surrender,  commercially  and  politically,  our 
policy  of  isolation  and  claim  an  influence  which  shall  be  as  limitless  as  the  world 
is  round  ?  The  Atlantic  coast  was  our  cradle ;  lusty  youth  found  us  on  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi ;  vigorous  maturity  has  brought  us  to  the  Pacific.  What  of 
that  momentous  morrow,  the  twentieth  century?  Are  we,  like  Alexander,  to 
stop  at  the  margin  of  the  sea  and  mourn  that  it  forever  bars  our  further  progress, 
or  are  we,  like  the  inspired  pilot  of  Genoa,  to  launch  the  bark  of  our  national 
destiny  into  an  unknown  sea  in  search  of  new  and  untried  routes  to  national 
prosperity  ? 

"Well  may  we,  my  fellow-countrymen,  in  this  great  crisis  of  our  national 
life,  remember  the  beginning  of  the  Republic  and  the  teachings  of  our  fathers. 
Such  remembrance  is  not  merely  a  grateful  tribute  to  the  dead,  but  will  help  us 
discharge  our  duty  to  the  unborn.  Let  us,  then,  in  the  spirit  of  the  great  lawgiver 
and  leader  of  an  oppressed  people : 

''Remember  the  days  of  old,  consider  the  years  of  many  generations.' 

''  'As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreadeth 
abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her  wings.' 

'  'So  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and  there  was  no  strange  god  with  him.' 


390 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


"This  very  striking  metaphor  of  Moses  suggests  a  great  truth  in  connection 
with  our  development  as  a  nation,  that  it  has  never  been  permitted  to  remain  long 
within  the  nest  of  any  traditional  policy.  There  is  a  natural  conservatism  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  a  distrust  and  dread  of  innovation.  It  has  ever  been 
slow  to  leave  the  beaten  paths  of  the  fathers.  Nor  need  this  be  deprecated,  for 
it  insures  a  reasonable  continuity  of  policy.  Every  great  step  forward  has  been 
due,  not  to  the  leadership  of  our  great  men,  nor  to  any  conscious  and  deliberate 
purpose  of  the  people,  but  wholly  to  a  divine  guidance  which,  working  through 
the  force  of  unforeseen  circumstances  and  a  certain  unconscious  intuitive  impulse 
of  the  masses,  has  destroyed  the  nest  of  tradition  and  thrust  us  as  young  eagles 
into  the  void.  The  great  actors  of  the  revolutionary  epoch  had  their  traditions, 
and  an  ancestry  in  which  they  gloried,  and  yet  were  forced  by  the  logic  of 
events  to  disregard  them  both.  Their  traditional  policy  was  loyalty  to  the  king, 
hatred  of  France,  with  whom  they  had  contested  for  the  possession  of  North 
JBT,  America,  pride  in  the  English 

t  Empire,      and      disinclination 

>:t^4^^j  towards    any    union    between 

themselves.  When  the  Revo- 
lution broke  out,  nothing  was 
further  from  their  purpose 
than  separation  from  England. 
Said  John  Adams :  'There 
was  not  a  moment  during  the 
Revolution  when  I  would  not 
have  given  everything  I  pos- 
sessed for  a  restoration  to  the 
state  of  things  before  the  contest  began,  provided  we  could  have  had  a  sufficient 
security  for  its  continuance.'  Dr.  Franklin,  the  most  trusted,  sagacious  and  far- 
seeing  statesman  of  his  generation,  said  before  the  battle  of  Lexington  that  he 
had  not  heard  the  'least  expression  of  a  wish  for  separation,  or  a  hint  that  such  a 
thing  would  be  advantageous  to  America.'  Mr.  Jay  said :  'During  the  course  of 
my  life,  and  until  the  second  petition  of  Congress  in  1775,  I  never  had  heard  an 
American  of  any  class  or  of  any  description  express  a  wish  for  the  independence 
of  the  Colonies.'  The  author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  said:  Tt  has 
always  been,  and  still  is,  my  opinion  and  belief  that  our  country  was  prompted 
and  impelled  to  independence  by  necessity,  not  by  choice.  I  never  heard  a  whisper, 
before  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  of  a  disposition  to  separate  from  Great 
Britain.'  Washington,  in  1774,  denounced  as  'malevolent  falsehoods'  the  asser- 
tions that  'there  is  any  intention  in  the  American  Colonies  to  set  up  for  independent 
States.'  In  1776,  he  wrote:  'When  I  took  command  of  the  army  I  abhorred  the 
idea  of  independence ;  now  I  am  convinced  nothing  else  will  save  us.' 

"  'Building  better  than  we  knew' — as  all  master  builders  of  a  nation — our 
fathers  were  led,  by  impulses  which  they  could  not  appreciate  or  understand,  to 


Machinery  and  Electricity  Building 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  391 

disregard  every  tradition  which  they  held  dear,  to  renounce  allegiance  to  the 
King,  separate  from  the  great  English  Empire,  make  formal  alliance  with  their 
hated  enemy,  France,  and  create  a  union  of  which  each  had  been  but  too  jealous. 

"The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  not  the  deliberate  wish  of  the 
people,  but  was  created  by  their  necessities ;  it  met  no  one's  entire  approval,  was 
only  adopted  after  bitter  debates  of  four  months'  duration,  and  was  the  result  of 
a  compromise  begotten  by  the  stern  and  pressing  necessities  of  the  situation. 
Only  a  choice  between  chaos  and  a  constitution  induced  the  jarring,  discordant 
and  jealous  States  to  surrender  any  portion  of  their  sovereignty,  and  yet  this 
Constitution  in  its  present  form,  the  child  of  no  brain  and  the  creation  of  no  wish, 
is  the  admiration  of  the  world,  and  has  been  pronounced  by  the  noblest  and  most 
scholarly  statesman  of  our  time,  whose  death  we  even  now  mourn,  to  have  been 
the  most  perfect  ever  struck  off  by  the  brain  and  purpose  of  man  at  a  given  time. 

"Nor  has  this  truth  been  less  marked  in  our  own  time  and  generation.  The 
Emancipation  Proclamation  clearly  violated  the  traditional  policy  of  our  country, 
which  recognized  the  existence  of  slavery.  Jefferson's  stern  denunciation  of  the 
slave  trade,  which  he  had  inserted  in  the  first  draft  of  the  great  Declaration, 
was  stricken  out  by  Congress,  and  the  Constitution  itself  distinctly  recognized 
the  existence  of  this  baleful  domestic  institution.  Its  destruction  was  not  due 
to  the  conscious  and  deliberate  purpose  of  any  statesman.  Lincoln,  at  the  beginning 
of  his  administration,  distinctly  disclaimed  any  purpose  to  interfere  with  it,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  blood,  which  had  been  shed  from  Bull  Run  to  Antietam, 
cried  as  from  the  ground,  that  again  the  nest  of  tradition  was  destroyed  and 
the  eagle  essayed  a  new  and  nobler  flight.  No  one  recognized  this  more  clearly 
than  did  the  great  war  President,  and  in  his  second  inaugural  he  plainly  voiced 
his  belief  that  not  only  the  removal  of  slavery  but  the  Civil  War  itself  had  come 
by  no  human  wisdom,  but  by  a  divine  judgment. 

"The  same  momentous  fact  is  true  today.  Once  again  the  nation  feels  a 
mysterious  and  puissant  impulse.  It  has  ever  been  the  traditional  policy  of  the 
Republic  not  to  interfere  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  a  friendly  power,  and  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  distinctly  disclaimed  any  intention  to  interfere  with  existing 
colonial  dependencies  in  America  of  European  powers ;  but  as  Lexington  inflamed 
a  continent  and  created  a  new  nation,  as  Fort  Sumter  rudely  shattered  our  dream 
of  peace  and  compelled  us  to  remove  by  the  sword  the  running  sore  of  slavery,  the 
explosion  of  the  Maine  and  the  cruelties  to  the  Cuban  people  have  compelled  us 
to  discard  our  traditional  and  valued  policy  of  non-interference,  and  directly 
interfere  with  the  domestic  affairs  of  another  nation. 

"We  need  not  regret  the  transitory  influence  of  the  past.  Blind  adherence  to 
tradition  is  not  the  highest  patriotism,  but  is  a  form  of  intellectual  slavery  not 
worthy  of  a  free  and  progressive  people.  An  assumption  that  the  teaching  of  our 
fathers  expressed  the  finality  of  political  wisdom  is  contradicted  by  the  uniform 
experience  of  mankind.  I  yield  to  no  one  in  my  reverential  respect  for  the 
founders  of  this  Republic.  No  Government  has  had  greater  men,  and  history  can 
be  searched  in  vain  for  any  loftier  lives  or  wiser  minds  than  Washington  and 


392  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Franklin,  Jefferson  and  Hamilton,  Madison  and  Monroe.  The  eloquent  judgment 
of  the  elder  Chatham  has  received  the  considerate  approval  of  mankind,  when, 
speaking  of  the  first  Continental  Congress,  he  said,  'I  must  declare  and  avow 
that  in  all  my  reading  and  study — and  I  have  read  Thucydides  and  have  studied 
and  admired  the  master  States  of  the  world — that  for  solidity  of  reason,  force  of 
sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion,  under  such  a  complication  of  circumstances, 
no  nation  or  body  of  men  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  General  Congress  at 
Philadelphia.'  Nevertheless,  the  Almighty  never  intended  that  wisdom  should 
die  either  with  one  man,  one  generation,  one  race,  one  century,  or  one  epoch. 
Least  of  any  people  should  America  doubt  the  'increasing  purpose'  of  the  ages 
and  the  widening  of  thought  'with  the  process  of  the  suns/ 

"Because  our  fathers  thought  that  the  stage  coach  was  adequate  to  their 
needs,  shall  we  abandon  the  locomotive?  The  old  wooden  battleships,  such  as  the 
'Bon  Homme  Richard'  and  the  'Constitution,'  won  imperishable  laurels  for  the 
American  navy,  but  shall  we  therefore  place  these  obsolete  sailing  vessels  in 
conflict  with  modern  steel  battleships  ?  Because  the  Continentals  defended  Bunker 
Hill  and  achieved  the  crowning  triumph  of  Yorktown  with  flint-lock  muskets, 
shall  we  discard  the  repeating  rifle?  If  Franklin  impressed  his  personality 
upon  the  world  with  a  hand-press,  shall  we  less  avail  ourselves  of  those  throbbing 
engines  which  make  possible  the  modern  newspaper?  Our  fathers  recognized 
that  wise  nations,  as  wise  individuals,  change  their  minds  when  occasion  justifies, 
but  fools  never.  Let  us  not  ascribe  to  them  an  infallibility  which  they  do  not 
claim  for  themselves.  Democracy  acknowledges  no  living  sovereign,  much  less 
those  who  are  said  to  'rule  us  from  their  urns.'  The  decadence  of  Spain,  which 
has  cost  her  the  empire  of  the  world,  and  now  brought  her  to  the  verge  of  final 
ruin,  is  due  to  her  'inordinate  tenacity  of  old  opinions,  old  beliefs,  and  old  habits,' 
which  Buckle  finds  to  be  her  predominant  national  characteristic.  He  adds:  T.y 
encouraging  the  notion  that  all  the  truths  most  important  to  know  are  already 
known,  they  repress  those  aspirations  and  dull  that  generous  confidence  in  the 
future  without  which  nothing  really  great  can  be  achieved.  A  people  who  regard 
the  past  with  too  wistful  an  eye  will  never  bestir  themselves  to  help  the  onward 
progress.  To  them  antiquity  is  wisdom,  and  every  improvement  is  a  dangerous 
innovation.'  The  nation  which  has  most  ^consistently  and  continuously  followed 
the  worship  of  ancestry  is  China,  and  as  a  result  it  is  today  the  helpless  prey  of 
other  powers,  although  in  number  and  resources  it  is  potentially  the  most  powerful 
on  the  earth. 

"We  must  not  as  a  people  permit  the  past  to  fetter  the  present.  That  way 
retrogression  lies,  and  our  duty  as  a  nation  is  to  be  determined  by  present,  not  by 
past,  conditions.  We  can  not  even  stand  still.  We  must  move  onward.  From 
civilization  we  derive  inestimable  rights,  to  her  we  owe  immeasurable  duties,  and 
to  shirk  these  is  cowardice  and  moral  death.  Xo  nation  can  live  to  itself,  even  if 
it  would.  The  economic  developments  of  the  nineteenth  century  have  produced  a 
solidarity  of  humanity,  which  no  racial  prejudice  or  international  hatred  can 
destroy.  Each  nation  is  its  brother's  keeper,  and  the  greater  the  power,  the 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  393 

greater  the  responsibility.  If  this  be  so,  no  nation  owes  a  greater  duty  to  civiliza- 
tion to  be  potential  in  the  councils  of  the  world  than  the  United  States.  For  it 
to  skulk  and  shirk  behind  the  selfish  policy  of  isolation  and  to  abdicate  a  destined 
world  supremacy,  would  be  the  colossal  crime  of  history.  God  has  given  us  the 
power — woe  be  unto  us  if  we  do  not  use  it !  The  stern  but  just  law,  which  has 
governed  the  nations  in  all  history,  is  that  he  alone  shall  have,  who  uses.  Its 
ethical  sanction  is  found  in  that  parable  of  the  talents,  in  which  the  Great  Teacher 
laid  down  the  moral  law  that  no  man  or  nation  has  an  indefeasible  title  to  property, 
that  all  is  holden  of  God,  and  tenure  depends  upon  rightful  use.  From  Spain,  as 
from  an  unprofitable  and  slothful  servant,  are  about  to  be  taken  colonies  which 
she  has  failed  to  develop  in  harmony  with  modern  progress.  Let  our  people, 
instead  of  questioning  the  law,  remember  that  we  too  shall  perish  when  we  cease 
to  develop  the  talents  committed  to  our  charge.  Of  every  rotten  tree  the  eternal 
inquiry  of  the  Great  Woodman  is  heard,  'Why  cumbereth  it  the  ground?' 

"In  discussing  any  question,  therefore,  which  may  result  from  the  present 
war  with  Spain,  let  us  not  give  undue  or  conclusive  value  to  the  opinions  of  the 
past.  The  conditions  under  which  we  must  act  are  essentially  different  from 
those  which  existed  in  our  father's  time,  and  the  Poet  of  Democracy  said  nothing 
more  worthy  of  remembrance  by  us  as  a  people  than  that — 

"New  occasions  teach  new  duties;  time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth; 
They  must  upward  still,  and  onward,  who  would  keep  abreast  of  truth. 

"Steam  and  electricity  have  destroyed  our  'distant  and  detached  position/ 
of  which  Washington  spoke  in  the  immortal  Farewell  Address,  and  upon  which 
he  predicated  in  the  infancy  of  the  Republic  a  policy  of  isolation.  Then  we  were 
the  weakest  power  in  the  world ;  today  we  are  the  strongest.  Then  we  were 
three  millions  in  number,  scattered  over  three  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of 
territory ;  today  we  are  seventy-five  millions  of  people,  inhabiting  a  continent 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  fronting  the  Orient  and  the  Occident  and  possessed  of 
resources  which  are  inexhaustible.  Then  we  were  almost  exclusively  an  agricul- 
tural country ;  today  we  are  the  greatest  agricultural,  mining,  and  manufacturing 
nation  of  the  globe,  and  second  only  to  England  in  commercial  prestige.  Then  it 
required  five  weeks  to  visit  or  communicate  with  Europe,  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
seemed  a  natural  barrier ;  today  we  can  flash  a  message  around  the  world  in  a 
few  hours,  and  can  learn  of  its  affairs  almost  as  they  occur.  The  citizens  of 
New  York  can  today  reach  London  with  more  facility  than  the  first  President 
could  leave  Mount  Vernon  and  proceed  to  Philadelphia.  When,  therefore, 
Washington,  at  a  time  when  the  great  European  powers  had  been  thrown  by  the 
French  Revolution  into  a  state  of  chaos,  advised  the  infant  Republic,  newest 
among  nations  and  weakest  in  credit,  numbers  and  resources,  to  avoid  any 
interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  greater  world  beyond  the  seas,  lest  as  a  lamb 
it  should  be  devoured  by  a  pack  of  wolves,  he  counseled,  as  he  always  did,  with 
wisdom  unimpeachable;  but  those  who  would  forever  keep  the  Republic  in  her 


394  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

swaddling  clothes,  and  who  for  this  purpose  invoke  the  great  name  of  Washing- 
ton, should  first  convince  us  that  if  he  were  the  President  of  the  most  powerful 
nation  in  the  world  he  would  advise  it  to  yield  precedence  to  lesser  and  weaker 
powers.  Would  he  not  feel  that  this  Colossus  among  nations  should  not  lisp  in 
the  language  of  its  infancy,  but  should  say  with  St.  Paul,  'When  I  was  a  child  I 
spake  as  a  child,  I  understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child ;  but  when  I  became 
a  man  I  put  away  childish  things.' 

"Our  nation  is  today  feeling  that  instinct  of  expansion  which  is  the  pre- 
dominant characteristic  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  It  is  bred  in  our  bone  and 
courses  with  our  lifeblood,  and  the  statesmen  of  our  day  must  take  it  into  account 
and  endeavor  to  control  it  wisely.  There  is  with  us,  as  with  our  great  mother 
empire,  a  national  instinct  for  territorial  growth,  'so  powerful  and  accurate,  that 
statesmen  of  every  school,  willing  or  unwilling,  have  found  themselves  carried 
along  by  a  tendency  which  no  individuality  can  resist  or  greatly  modify.'  We 
could  as  hopefully  bid  the  Mississippi  cease  its  flow  towards  the  sea,  or  the 
Missouri  remain  chained  within  its  rocky  sources,  as  to  prevent  the  onward 
movement  of  this  great,  proud,  generous,  and  aggressive  people.  This  was  true 
of  the  day  of  our  weakness,  it  is  true  in  this  the  day  of  our  strength. 

"The  first  effort  of  the  newly  recognized  Republic  was  to  acquire  territory. 
When  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  our  Peace  Commissioners  met  in  Paris,  the 
problem  arose  as  to  the  true  boundaries  of  the  new  nation.  We  had  solemnly 
covenanted  with  France  that  we  should  not  sign  any  treaty  of  peace  with 
England  unless  our  ally  concurred.  France  insisted  that  the  vast  area  between 
the  rivers  which  flowed  into  the  Atlantic  and  the  Mississippi  was  Spanish 
territory.  Our  Commissioners  felt  that  our  national  destiny  justified  a  claim  to 
the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  they  so  far  'stooped  to  conquer'  as  to 
secretly  execute,  without  the  knowledge  or  concurrence  of  France,  a  treaty  with 
England  which  gave  us  the  territory  to  the  Father  of  Waters.  Congress  at  first 
was  disposed  to  condemn  this  act  of  the  Commission  and  disclaim  the  territory 
beyond  the  Alleghenies,  which  were  felt  by  many  to  be  the  boundaries  which 
nature  had  set  to  the  advance  of  the  Republic.  The  most  radical  agreed  that  the 
Mississippi  was  our  true  boundary,  and  yet  the  commercial  necessity  of  its  free 
navigation  caused  our  fathers,  a  few  years  later,  to  reverse  this  narrow  conception 
of  their  national  destiny,  and  constrained  as  sincere  and  lofty  a  statesman  as 
Jefferson  to  sacrifice  his  cherished  theories  as  to  the  constitutional  powers  of  the 
Federal  Government  by  purchasing  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  without  the 
authority  of  either  the  Constitution  or  of  Congress,  this  great  empire  between  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Pacific.  A  great  party  vainly  opposed  the  purchase  of  this 
region,  and  in  so  doing,  destroyed  only  itself.  Speaking  in  one  of  its  thirty  great 
opulent  cities,  at  an  Exposition  which  represents  the  resources  of  twenty-two 
million  of  freemen,  let  me  quote  the  words  of  Senator  White  spoken  on  the  floor 
of  the  Senate  in  1803.  He  said :  'But  as  to  Louisiana,  this  new,  immense, 
unbounded  world,  if  it  should  ever  be  incorporated  into  this  Union,  which  I  have 
no  idea  can  be  done  but  by  altering  the  Constitution,  I  believe  it  will  be  the 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


greatest  curse  that  could  at  present  befall  us.  It  may  be  productive  of  innumer- 
able evils,  and  especially  one  that  I  even  fear  to  look  upon.'  And  then  he  added, 
'Gentlemen  on  all  sides,  with  very  few  exceptions,  agree  that  the  settlement  of  this 
country  will  be  highly  injurious  and  dangerous  to  the  United  States.  *  *  *  * 
We  have  already  territory  enough,  and  when  I  contemplate  the  evils  that  may 
arise  to  these  States  from  this  incorporation  of  Louisiana  into  the  Union,  I  would 
rather  see  it  given  to  France,  to  Spain,  or  to  any  other  nation  of  the  earth,  upon 
the  mere  condition  that  no  citizen  of  the  United  States  should  ever  settle  within 
its  limits,  than  to  see  the  territory  sold  for  one  hundred  million  dollars,  and  we 
retain  the  sovereignty.' 

"The  opposition  to  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  was  repeated  in  the  matter  of 
disputed  territory  of  Oregon,  which  an  influential  Senator  said  was  'not  worth 
a  pinch  of  snuff,'  and  but  for  Whitman's  perilous  journey  across  the  continent, 
would  have  been  forever  lost  to  the  Union ;  but  the  impulse  of  our  people  towards 
expansion  triumphed  in  the 
matter  of  Louisiana  and  Ore- 
gon, as  also  in  that  of  Texas. 
California  and  Alaska,  and 
today  our  territorial  posses- 
sions stretch  so  far  into  the 
Pacific,  that  the  sun  which 
casts  its  last  rays  upon  the 
farthest  Aleutian  Island  is 
already  illuminating  the  rocky 
coast  of  Maine.  San  Fran- 
cisco, once  our  western  limit, 
is  now  but  midway  between  our  eastern  and  western  possessions,  and  the  shores 
of  Puget  Sound,  originally  our  most  northern  frontier,  are  now  more  than  a 
thousand  miles  south  of  that  final  shore,  which  stretches  toward  the  Pole  and  into 
the  Arctic  Ocean. 

"I  would  not  be  understood  as  arguing  in  favor  of  the  annexation  of  any  of 
the  islands,  of  which  we  have  taken  possession  for  the  purposes  of  the  war,  or 
indeed  of  any  policy  of  indiscriminate  territorial  acquisition.  These  are  questions 
about  which  men  of  equal  intelligence  and  patriotism  may  reasonably  differ,  and 
both  the  limitations  and  the  proprieties  of  the  occasion  forbid  their  discussion.  I 
have  been  protesting,  however,  against  the  tyranny  of  tradition,  intellectual 
slavery,  which  compels  obedience  to  past  ideals,  and  the  assumption  that  there 
should  be  any  policy  which  forbids  the  further  expansion  of  the  Republic. 

"Let  us  equally  beware  of  the  fatal  error  of  empires  and  republics,  that  a 
nation  is  necessarily  great  in  proportion  to  its  area  and  population.  To  no 
principle  of  public  policy  has  history  given  a  more  uniform  and  emphatic  con- 
tradiction. As  Mr.  Lowell  has  beautifully  said,  'The  greatness  of  a  nation  is 
weighed  in  scales  more  delicate  than  the  balance  of  trade.  On  the  maps  you  can 
cover  Athens  with  a  pin  point  and  Judea  with  a  finger  tip,  and  yet  in  those 


Fine  Arts  Building 


396  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

magnificent  places  impulses  have  been  given  which  have  not  ceased  to  direct 
civilization.'  If  mere  numbers  and  area  determine  greatness,  China  would  be  the 
greatest  nation  in  the  world,  and  yet  greater  than  all  Cathay  was  that  little  capital 
of  Attica,  Athens,  which  has  flamed  as  a  torch  of  culture  over  the  ages,  and  lives 
in  memory  as  the  'city  of  the  violet  crown.'  Expansion  is  not  necessarily  strength, 
but  may  involve  weakness,  and  we  should  not  add  to  our  already  onerous 
responsibilities,  without  undoubted  compensatory  advantages,  or  unless  our  duty 
to  humanity  clearly  requires  us  to  take  weaker  nations  under  our  fostering 
influence. 

"There  is  one  tradition  of  our  fathers,  which  we  can  not  too  strictly  respect, 
and  whose  value  time  can  not  'wither  nor  custom  stale.'  It  is  the  spirit  of  justice, 
to  which,  by  that  instrument  whose  adoption  we  celebrate  today,  our  country  is 
solemnly  dedicated  forevermore.  The  richest  country  in  the  world,  though  it 
were  paved  with  gold,  were  dear  enough,  if  purchased  at  the  price  of  this  ideal. 
In  achieving  its  high  destiny,  the  Republic  must  therefore  respect  the  noble  and 
cosmopolitan  spirit  in  which  it  was  formed.  To  appreciate  it  we  must  comprehend 
the  meaning  and  purpose  of  the  declaration.  It  is  commonly  believed  that  it  is 
noteworthy  in  our  annals,  because  by  that  instrument,  and  on  the  day  on  which 
it  was  proclaimed,  our  country  severed  its  relations  with  Great  Britain.  This  is  a 
mistake.  The  formal  act  of  severance  from  Great  Britain  did  not  occur  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  nor  by  the  Declaration.  On  June  7,  1776,  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
of  Virginia,  at  the  instance  of  Virginia,  introduced  his  three  famous  resolutions, 
the  first  of  which  was,  'That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  States,  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to 
the  British  crown,  and  that  the  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State 
of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  absolved.'  They  were  debated  with 
great  earnestness  on  the  eighth  and  tenth  of  June,  by  which  time  it  became  clear 
a  majority  of  the  colonies  was  prepared  to  adopt  them,  but  for  the  sake  of  greater 
unanimity,  the  consideration  of  the  question  was  postponed  until  July  ist,  and 
the  committee,  composed  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Roger  Sherman  and  Robert  R.  Livingston,  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  formal 
declaration  to  the  world.  On  the  first  day  of  July,  Congress,  sitting  as  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  resumed  consideration  of  the  question  and  it  was  passed  by 
the  committee.  On  the  following  day,  July  2,  1776,  Rodney,  having  'come  post 
from  the  Delaware  Counties,'  and  Pennsylvania  having  changed  her  vote,  the 
House  unanimously  adopted  the  original  resolution.  If,  therefore,  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Republic  is  to  date  from  the  formal  resolution  of  severance, 
rather  than  from  the  real  severance,  which  commenced  with  the  first  Continental 
Congress,  then  on  July  2,  1776,  the  United  States  began  their  separate  and 
independent  existence.  This  was  clearly  the  belief  of  those  who  participated  in 
the  proceedings,  and  was  expressed  by  John  Adams  in  his  memorable  letter  nt 
July  3,  1776,  to  his  wife,  when  he  said,  'Rut  the  day  is  past.  The  second  day  <>i 
July,  1776,  will  be  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of  America.  I  am  apt  to 
believe  that  it  will  be  celebrated  by  succeeding  generations  as  the  great  anniversary 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  397 

festival.  It  ought  to  be  commemorated,  as  the  day  of  deliverance,  by  solemn  acts 
of  devotion  to  God  Almighty.  *  *  *  You  may  think  me  transported  with 
enthusiasm,  but  I  am  not ;  I  am  well  aware  of  the  toil  and  blood  and  treasure 
that  it  will  cost  us  to  maintain  this  declaration  and  support  and  defend  these 
States,  yet  through  all  the  gloom  I  can  see  the  rays  of  light  and  glory.' 

''What,  then,  was  the  purpose  of  the  great  Declaration,  and  what  has  given 
it  not  only  undying  significance  for  all  future  time,  but  especial  value  for  us  today  ? 
It  was  this :  Our  fathers  appreciated  that  their  act  was  essentially  revolutionary, 
that  it  had  no  sanction  in  any  code  of  municipal  or  international  law,  and  that  its 
only  justification  must  be  found  in  that  higher  law  of  the  human  conscience  by 
which  in  the  last  analysis  all  political  acts  must  be  judged.  They  therefore  felt 
that  their  action  required  formal  justification,  and  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  satis- 
fying the  conscience  of  mankind  as  to  the  justice  of  an  act  essentially  revolution- 
ary that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted  on  July  4,  1776.  It 
was  not,  therefore,  intended  for  the  colonists.  For  them  a  recital  of  their  griev- 
ances was  superfluous,  for  the  wrongs  done  them  were  ineffaceably  seared  into 
their  memories.  Nor  was  the  Declaration  an  appeal  to  public  sentiment  in  Eng- 
land, for  their  'humble  petition'  of  1776  had  been  contemptuously  spurned  both 
by  the  King  and  his  subservient  Parliament. 

"Our  fathers  felt  that  further  discussion  with  England  was  useless.  Its 
purpose  was,  therefore,  solemnly  to  challenge  the  justice  of  the  world  to  the  neces- 
sity of  the  separation.  This  is  clearly  shown  by  its  noble  preamble  :  'When,  in  the 
course  of  human  events  it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political 
bands  which  have  connected  them  with  another  *  *  *  a  decent  respect  to  the  opin- 
ion of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to 
the  separation.'  This  paper,  therefore,  assumes — vainly  as  it  then  seemed,  in  an  age 
in  which  might  was  supposed  to  make  right — that  there  was  a  law  of  right  and 
wrong,  which,  rising  higher  than  laws,  precedence,  or  conventions,  regulated  the 
intercourse  of  nations  as  individuals.  It  believed  in  moral  responsibility,  for 
nations  as  for  men,  and  it  evolved  a  belief  in  a  great  human  conscience,  which, 
towering  above  the  selfish  interest  of  nations  and  races,  would  approve  the  right 
and  condemn  the  wrong.  It  assumed  that  this  approval  was  more  to  be  desired 
than  nation  advantage.  It  established  civilization  as  a  judge  between  contending 
nations,  with  posterity  as  a  court  of  last  resort.  It  proclaimed  the  solidarity  of 
humanity,  and  placed  it  higher  than  the  tie  of  nationality.  It  argued — not  with  the 
ethics  of  a  rifle  or  the  morality  of  the  cannon  only,  but  with  the  power  of  the 
untrammeled  reason — the  righteousness  of  the  separation  at  the  bar  of  history.  It 
satisfied  the  reason  of  man  by  adding  'In  proof  of  this  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a 
candid  world.'  Nay,  it  recognized  that  even  above  the  conscience  of  mankind, 
there  was  the  'Ruler  of  Nations,'  by  whom  all  acts  would  be  finally  and  infallibly 
judged,  and  therefore  the  great  Declaration  concluded  by  solemnly  'appealing  to 
the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  World  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions.' 

"Such  was  the  spirit,  such  the  purpose,  such  the  crowning  glory  of  the 
noblest  State  paper  ever  drafted  by  the  hand  of  man  or  proclaimed  by  any  people. 


398  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

It  proclaimed  a  new  principle  in  the  history  of  human  affairs,  that  not  by  armies 
and  navies  alone,  nor  by  the  power  of  economic  resources,  but  by  the  standards 
of  eternal  justice,  should  a  nation  in  the  fear  of  God  determine  its  action.  In  like 
spirit  was  the  parting  precept  of  the  Father  of  his  Country,  'the  counsel  of  an  old 
and  affectionate  friend/  voiced  in  that  immortal  farewell  message,  which  was  his 
benediction  to  the  people  whom  he  loved  so  well : 

"  'Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards  all  nations.  Cultivate  peace  and 
harmony  with  all.  Religion  and  morality  enjoin  this  conduct;  and  can  it  be  that 
good  policy  does  not  equally  enjoin  it?  It  will  be  worthy  of  a  free,  enlightened, 
and  at  no  distant  period  a  great  nation  to  give  to  mankind  the  magnanimous  and 
too  novel  example  of  a  people  always  guided  by  an  exalted  justice  and  benev- 
olence.' 

"With  this  spirit  we  need  not  fear  to  face  the  future.  No  problem  to  con- 
front us  will  prove  too  great  for  our  solution,  and  no  work  too  great  for  our 
achievement.  Faintly  to  grasp  the  future  of  this  country  is  to  bewilder  and  exhaust 
the  imagination.  That  past  is  but  the  'happy  prologue  to  the  swelling  act  of  an 
imperial  theme.'  Today  as  never  before  we  face  the  world  as  a  united  country.  If 
wounds  there  have  been,  they  are  healed ;  if  cause  for  quarrel,  it  has  gone.  East  and 
West,  from  the  Father  of  Waters,  north  and  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  we 
are  one  today,  my  fellow  men ;  one  in  the  proud  possession  of  the  glorious  past,  one 
in  a  resolute  purpose  to  meet  the  duties  of  the  hour,  and  one  in  an  abiding  faith  in 
the  future  of  our  beloved  country.  Never  before  did  her  flag  float  as  a  symbol  of 
possession  over  so  vast  a  dominion.  Not  only  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the  Gulf, 
and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  but  in  those  islands  of  the  sea  where  the 
Caribbean  breaks,  and  in  that  farther  archipelago,  laved  by  the  China  Sea,  the 
Star- Spangled  Banner  floats  today  in  proudest  triumph.  Our  boast  is  that  of  the 
mother  empire,  of  whose  teeming  womb  we  are  born,  that  night  no  longer  falls 
upon  our  possessions,  for  when  these  joyous  festivities  shall  have  ended  and  day 
shall  fade  from  yonder  lagoon,  and  when  the  moon  shall  silver  with  its  mellow 
glory  these  noble  temples  of  art  and  industry,  the  sun  will  be  flooding  the  harbor 
of  Manila,  and  illuminating  that  glorious  flag  under  which  Dewey  and  his  heroes 
defended  this  country's  honor.  For  one  land,  one  people,  one  flag,  and  one 
destiny,  let  us  reverently  thank  the  God  of  our  Fathers.  May  the  glory  of  the 
Republic  be  as  lasting  as  the  day  which  shines  upon  her  flag,  and  her  beneficent 
influence  upon  future  generations  as  ceaseless  as  the  majestic  flow  of  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  sea !" 

MASSACHUSETTS  DAY  — July  11,  1898 

The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  having  provided  for  a  formal 
representation  at  the  Exposition,  the  State  officials  selected  this  day  for  their 
visit.  At  the  head  of  the  delegation  was  Lieut-Gov.  W.  Murray  Crane  and  staff. 
Besides  the  Governor,  most  of  the  State  officers  and  numerous  members  of  the 
Assembly  were  present.  The  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at  eleven 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  399 

o'clock  a.  m.  Governor  Holcomb  and  staff  and  State  Adjutant-General  Barry, 
Chancellor  George  E.  McLean  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  Manager  Edward 
Rosewater,  and  other  Nebraskans  assisted  in  the  entertainment  of  the  dis- 
tinguished guests.  Mrs.  Clement  Chase,  Chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment, 
and  other  members  of  that  Bureau  were  present.  After  music,  Governor  Hale  was 
introduced  and  heartily  welcomed  the  visitors  from  the  old  Bay  State. 

Lieut.  Gov.  W.  Murray  Crane  responded  in  a  brief  but  appropriate  address. 
President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles  delivered  an  address  of  welcome  in  which  he 
referred  to  the  fact  that  at  one  time  the  boundaries  of  Massachusetts  extended 
westward  to  the  western  line  of  the  dominion  of  the  nation,  and  said  that  although 
these  boundaries  no  longer  reached  to  eastern  bounds  of  our  State,  yet  the 
influence  of  the  New  England  stock  from  which  many  of  the  residents  of  the  West 
descended,  and  the  ties  of  consanguinity  which  bound  the  West  to  the  East  made 
the  representatives  of  Massachusetts  as  welcome  as  though  we  were  a  part  of  the 
old  Bay  State  itself. 

Hon.  George  E.  Smith,  President  of  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  delivered 
a  most  polished  address,  after  which  Mrs.  G.  W.  Johnston  sang  in  a  most  pleasing 
manner  and  was  warmly  applauded. 

Hon.  John  L.  Bates,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Legislature,  was  the  next  speaker.  He  said  that  the  delegates  from 
Massachusetts  brought  the  hearty  good-will  of  the  people  of  that  State  and 
congratulations  on  the  great  Exposition  and  on  the  boundless  possibilities  of  the 
great  country  represented  by  that  enterprise. 

Chancellor  George  E.  McLean,  of  the  Nebraska  University,  then  delivered 
an  address,  after  which  more  music  was  rendered,  and  the  meeting  was  adjourned 
to  luncheon  served  in  the  Markel  Cafe.  At  this  luncheon  eloquent  toasts  were 
responded  to  by  W.  H.  Alexander  and  W.  G.  Whitmore,  natives  of  Massachusetts 
residing  in  Nebraska. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  January  12,  the  Massachusetts  delegation  was  ten- 
dered a  reception  by  President  Wattles  and  Mrs.  Wattles  at  their  home  on 
Thirty-seventh  street.  The  wide  porch  and  grounds  about  their  residence  were 
decorated  and  illuminated  for  the  occasion.  Many  of  the  prominent  society  people 
of  Omaha  met  the  Massachusetts  visitors,  and  the  function  was  pronounced  one 
of  the  most  elaborate  and  successful  of  any  of  the  many  private  receptions  given 
during  the  entire  Exposition. 

CHILDREN'S  DAY  — July  14,  1898 

Children  celebrated  the  dedication  of  the  Boys'  and  Girls'  building.  Early 
in  the  construction  period  of  the  Exposition,  the  school  children  of  Nebraska  and 
Iowa  decided  to  raise  by  small  donations  the  money  for  a  Boys'  and  Girls'  build- 
ing, to  be  erected  on  the  Exposition  grounds.  This  building  was  located  in 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  Grand  Court,  and  though  not  as  large  as  the  other 
buildings  on  this  court,  it  was  well  adapted  for  the  uses  for  which  it  was 


400  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

erected,  the  entertainment  of  the  children.  The  building  was  a  source  of  great 
interest  to  the  thousands  of  school  children  who  had  contributed  their  dimes 
toward  its  cost,  and  as  the  admission  on  this  dedication  day  had  been  reduced 
to  fifteen  cents  for  children,  great  throngs  of  little  folks  were  gathered  early  to 
participate  in  the  celebration  and  view  the  sights  of  the  Exposition. 

The  exercises  in  the  building  were  simple,  consisting  of  a  few  short  speeches 
and  some  music,  closing  with  the  singing  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  after 
which  all  formalities  were  laid  aside  and  the  little  ones  enjoyed  themselves  in  all 
parts  of  the  Exposition  grounds.  The  day  closed  with  the  usual  concert  in  the 
evening,  which  was  largely  attended. 

MILITARY   DAY  — July  16,  1898 

The  Third  Regiment  of  Nebraska  had  been  recruited  by  Colonel  Wm.  J. 
Bryan  and  were  about  to  leave  the  State  for  service  in  the  Cuban  War.  They 
were  in  camp  at  old  Fort  Omaha  and  had  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  Exposi- 
tion officials  to  attend  the  Exposition  in  a  body  before  leaving  the  State.  Great 
preparations  for  their  comfort  had  been  made  by  the  Woman's  Bureau  of  Enter- 
tainment and  many  assistants  had  volunteered  to  serve  in  distributing  the 
refreshments  to  the  fifteen  hundred  soldiers  who  were  expected  to  participate 
in  the  demonstration.  At  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  the  regiment  entered  the  Exposition 
grounds  at  the  north  gate  and  were  received  by  General  Manager  Clarkson,  with 
the  Pawnee  City  Band,  and  marched  down  the  West  Midway  over  the  north 
viaduct  into  the  Grand  Plaza  and  from  there  to  the  Nebraska  building,  and  then 
countermarched  back  to  the  Plaza  and  over  the  viaduct  to  the  Grand  Court. 

Governor  Holcomb  and  staff  on  horseback,  with  Colonel  Bryan  and  his 
aides,  preceded  the  marching  troopers,  and  their  bright  uniforms  contrasting  with 
the  beautiful  white  of  the  buildings  made  a  scene  long  to  be  remembered  by  those 
who  witnessed  it.  Many  fathers  and  mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  wives  and 
sweethearts  of  these  volunteers  were  gathered  on  the  grounds  to  see  and  perhaps 
embrace  their  loved  ones  for  the  last  time.  Many  bands  of  music  and  waving 
flags  lent  enchantment  to  the  scene.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  troopers  gathered  in 
the  Auditorium,  and  with  their  friends  and  visitors  completely  filled  the  great 
building.  The  public  was  excluded  until  the  soldiers  were  seated,  and  there  was 
not  sufficient  room  for  all  who  sought  admittance. 

On  the  stage  were  seated  Governor  Holcomb  of  Nebraska,  Governor  Leedy 
of  Kansas,  Colonel  William  J.  Bryan,  General  Barry,  Adjutant-General  of 
Nebraska,  General  Manager  T.  H.  Clarkson,  President  Wattles  and  numerous 
other  Exposition  officials.  After  several  selections  by  the  Pawnee  City  Band. 
President  Wattles  introduced  General  Manager  Clarkson,  who  delivered  an 
address  of  welcome  to  the  soldiers.  He  bade  them  godspeed  in  the  performance 
of  their  patriotic  duties.  He  paid  eloquent  tribute  to  the  men  who  risked  their 
lives  for  their  country's  honor.  His  address  was  often  interrupted  by  cheers  and 
at  its  close  the  Third  Regiment  Band  increased  the  enthusiasm  by  playing  "The 
IJattle  Crv  of  Freedom." 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  401 

Governor  J.  W.  Leedy,  of  Kansas,  then  spoke  briefly,  after  which  there  was 
more  music  and  then  Hon.  G.  M.  Hitchcock  was  introduced  and  presented  the 
regiment  with  a  set  of  silk  guidons,  two  for  each  of  the  three  battalions.  These 
were  received  by  Colonel  Bryan,  who  expressed  feelingly  the  thanks  of  his 
regiment  for  this  and  other  manifestations  of  good-will  which  had  been  showered 
upon  them  on  every  hand.  At  the  close  of  his  address  there  was  more  music  by 
the  band,  after  which,  Governor  Holcomb  was  introduced  and  delivered  the 
formal  farewell  of  the  State  to  its  volunteers.  His  address  brought  tears  to  many 
eyes  as  he  assured  the  boys  that  after  they  had  gone  to  the  front  they  would 
be  remembered  and  honored  and  their  achievements  would  be  the  pride  of  the 
great  commonwealth.  At  the  close  of  Governor  Holcomb's  address,  it  was 
announced  that  the  Woman's  Bureau  of  Entertainment  would  serve  dinner  to  the 
soldiers  in  their  seats  in  the  Auditorium.  The  women  who  had  volunteered  to 
perform  this  task  and  had  secured  the  food  for  the  feast  were  assigned  as 
follows : 

Third  Regiment  Band — Mrs.  Charles  Shiverick,  assisted  by  Mrs.  J.  E.  Baum,  Mrs.  John 
Wilbur,  the  Misses  Adeline  Nash,  Edna  Cowin.  Anna  Crary,  Ethel  Morse,  Anna  Shiverick, 
and  Miss  Outcalt,  of  Lincoln. 

Pawnee  City  Band — Committee  of  the  Women's  Relief  Corps,  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Potter. 
Chairman ;  Mesdames  George  B.  Eddy,  John  Jeffcoat,  Allen  Koch,  W.  R.  Martin,  Remington, 
Omar  Whitney,  George  Rhodes,  McCoy,  Hough,  Deacon  Hull,  Askwith,  Sheelar,  Bugh,  all 
of  Omaha  Corps,  and  Mesdames  Ogg,  Eastman,  Ingersoll,  Williams,  Fenner  and  Towl,  of 
South  Omaha. 

Company  A — Mrs.  J.  M.  Metcalf,  assisted  by  Mesdames  C.  D.  Sinclair,  J.  N.  Cornish 
and  J.  H.  Hertsche,  and  the  Misses  Anna  V.  Metcalf  and  Lucy  Sinclair. 

Company  B — Mrs.  George  E.  Barker,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Squires,  Mrs.  A.  H.  Noyes,  the  Misses 
Amy  Barker,  Mary  Barker,  Louise  Squires. 

Company  C — Mesdames  H.  T.  Clarke,  W.  F.  Allen,  Frank  Colpetzer,  Harry  Wilkins, 
the  Misses  Gertrude  Clarke,  Grace  Allen,  Mabel  Taylor,  Freda  Ranger,  Louise  Tukey. 

Company  D — Mrs.  J.  E.  Summers,  Jr.,  Mrs.  George  Hoagland,  the  Misses  Cora  Carney, 
Belle  Beatty,  Laura  Beatty,  Helen  Hoagland,  May  Meighen,  Bessie  Yates,  Caroline  Johnson. 

Company  E — Sanitary  Aid  Society,  Mrs.  George  B.  Eddy,  Vice-President ;  Mesdames 
Fred  Nichols,  R.  C.  Moore,  E.  V.  Lewis,  the  Misses  Flora  Holt,  Bessie  Levitt,  Moore,  Helene 
Wyman,  Flora  Lewis,  Jessie  Brown. 

Company  F — Mesdames  Paul  Charlton,  Richard  Carrier.  George  W.  Mercer,  Charles  W. 
Rainey,  the  Misses  Nellie  and  Sarah  Baum. 

Company  G — Mesdames  Andrew  Rosewater,  T.  J.  Mahoney,  Henry  S.  Jaynes,  the 
Misses  Herberta  Jaynes,  Edith  Smith,  Martha  Stone,  Tot  Moores  and  Lillie  Bergh,  of  New 
York  City. 

Company  H — Committee  of  Women's  Relief  Corps. 

Company  I — Mesdames  George  A.  Joslyn,  Charles  Offutt,  E.  A.  Nash,  A.  J.  Love,  M.  A. 
Hall,  Charles  Ogden,  Miss  Laura  Barber. 

Company  K — Mesdames  W.  A.  Reddick,  Thomas  Kilpatrick,  T.  M.  Orr,  W.  N.  Babcock, 
E.  S.  Dundy,  D.  H.  Wheeler,  Jr.,  E.  H.  Sprague,  Alvin  Saunders  and  Miss  Dundy. 

Company  L — Mesdames  T.  J.  Mackay,  E.  L.  Lomax,  John  Grossman,  Robert  Purvis, 
Miss  Purvis,  Miss  Olla.Cook. 

Company  M — Mesdames  G.  W.  Wattles,  J.  R.  Buchanan,  Z.  T.  Lindsey,  G.  F.  Bidwell, 
the  Misses  Lindsey,  Evans,  Emma  Creighton,  Andreeson,  Miss  Moore  of  Council  Bluffs, 
Miss  Nellie  Law  of  Henry,  111. 


402 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


MINNESOTA   DEDICATION   DAY  — July  20,  1898 

The  Minnesota  building,  erected  by  private  subscriptions  and  donations  by 
the  citizens  of  Minnesota,  was  unique  and  unlike  any  other  building  on  the 
Exposition  grounds.  It  was  typical  of  life  in  the  pine  forests  of  the  State  it  rep- 
resented, being  constructed  entirely  of  pine  logs,  hewn  and  mortised  in  an  artistic 
and  substantial  manner.  The  building  was  seventy  feet  long,  sixty  feet  wide  and 
two  stories  high.  There  were  two  balconies,  one  at  each  story,  twenty  feet  wide, 
with  railings  made  of  poles  surrounding  them.  All  the  materials  used  in  the 
construction  were  shipped  from  Minnesota  and  illustrated  products  of  that  State. 
The  rooms  were  commodious  and  filled  with  easy  chairs ;  the  walls  decorated  with 
many  pictures  and  heads  of  animals  of  the  early  pioneer  life  of  the  State. 

Many  distinguished  residents  of  Minnesota 
came  on  the  two  special  trains  to  celebrate  the 
dedication  of  Minnesota's  building  and  to  see  the 
Exposition.  Governor  Clough  and  staff,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Minnesota  Commission,  several  of  the 
State  officers,  and  members  of  the  Legislature, 
were  among  the  visitors.  The  dedication  exercises 
were  held  at  the  building  at  10:30  a.  m.,  J.  Newton 
Ninde,  chairman  of  the  Building  Committee,  pre- 
siding, who  first  introduced  Governor  Silas  A. 
Holcomb  of  Nebraska,  who  welcomed  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Minnesota  and  other  distinguished  guests. 
John  L.  Gibbs,  president  of  the  Minnesota  Com- 
mission, and  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Minnesota, 
responded  in  a  happy  manner,  after  which  Gov- 
ernor Clough  was  introduced  and  formally  accepted 
the  building  and  in  turn  delivered  it  to  the  Exposition  officials.  President  Wattles 
of  the  Exposition  accepted  it  for  the  management,  and  after  his  address  and  music 
by  the  band,  Honorable  W.  H.  Eustis,  of  Minnesota,  delivered  the  closing  address. 
The  exercises  closed  with  more  music. 

A  public  reception  in  the  parlors  of  the  Minnesota  building  was  tendered 
Governor  Clough  and  his  party  after  the  exercises  of  the  day. 


Cushman  K.  Davis, 
United  States  Senator 


INDIAN  DAY  — August  4,  1898 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  Exposition  it  was  proposed  by  President  Wattles 
that  an  Indian  Congress  of  the  principal  tribes  of  North  American  Indians  should 
be  one  of  the  distinctive  features  of  the  Exposition.  That  as  all  of  the  Trans- 
Mississippi  territory  had,  but  a  comparatively  few  years  past,  been  occupied  by 
these  Indian  tribes,  and  that  as  they  were  fast  disappearing  and  their  modes  of 
life  and  customs  were  gradually  changing  with  the  onward  march  of  civilization, 
it  would,  perhaps,  be  the  last  time  that  the  primitive  life  of  these  tribes  could 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  403 

ever  be  successfully  illustrated.  As  many  eastern  people  had  never  seen  Indians 
in  their  semi-savage  state,  it  was  argued  that  this  Indian  Congress  would  be  a 
great  drawing  feature  that  would  bring  many  eastern  people  to  visit  the  Exposi- 
tion. 

A  bill  was  introduced  in  Congress  authorizing  the  assemblage  of  these  Indian 
tribes,  and  providing  an  appropriation  of  forty  thousand  dollars  to  defray  the 
expenses.  Much  delay  was  experienced  in  the  passage  of  this  measure,  and  finally 
Manager  Rosewater  was  prevailed  upon  to  go  to  Washington  and  lend  his  efforts 
to  those  of  Congressman  Mercer  and  Senators  Allen  and  Thurston  in  securing 
the  desired  legislation.  When  the  bill  was  finally  passed  it  was  too  late  to  assemble 
the  Indians  for  the  opening  of  the  Exposition,  and  before  the  encampment  was 
complete  on  the  Exposition  grounds,  the  first  of  August  had  passed.  On  the  day 
set  for  the  grand  parade  of  Indian  tribes  which  should  mark  the  opening  of  the 
Indian  Congress,  there  was  encamped  on  the  north  tract  of  the  Exposition  grounds 
a  goodly  number  of  the  following  tribes : 

Chippewas,  Rosebud,  Lower  Brule,  Cheyennes,  Sissetons.  Flandreau,  Stand- 
ing Rock,  Crow,  Creek,  Sioux,  Sacs,  Foxes,  Assiniboines,  Omahas,  Winnebagos, 
Blackfeet,  Arapahoes,  Jicarilla,  Apaches,  Nez  Perces,  Comanches,  Wichitas,  Ban- 
nocks, Pueblos,  Osages,  Iroquois  and  Poncas.  The  Indians  were  in  charge  of 
Captain  Mercer.  The  morning  was  spent  in  arranging  their  camps  and  in  raising 
the  flag,  which  was  accompanied  with  much  ceremony  and  wild  cheering.  In  the 
afternoon  the  parade  was  formed  and  marched  through  the  midway  over  the 
north  viaduct  and  down  the  Bluff  Tract  to  the  Horticultural  building,  counter- 
marching back  to  the  Grand  Plaza.  Several  bands  formed  a  part  of  the  parade, 
and  the  Indians  were  dressed  in  the  fantastic  manner  of  their  respective  tribes. 
After  the  parade  and  a  short  rest,  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  weird  dances,  horse 
racing  and  other  Indian  amusements.  The  day  was  a  great  success  in  point  of 
attendance,  and  from  this  the  opening  day  of  the  Indian  Congress,  until  the  close 
of  the  Exposition,  the  Indians  proved  a  great  attraction. 

FLOWER  DAY  — August  5,  1898 

For  several  weeks  preparations  had  been  going  on  for  a  grand  flower  parade 
on  the  Exposition  grounds.  This  parade  was  one  of  the  decidedly  successful 
features  of  the  Exposition  period.  The  women  of  the  Bureau  of  Entertainment, 
under  the  supervision  and  direction  of  Mrs.  H.  McCall  Travis,  assumed  full 
charge  of  the  decoration  of  vehicles  that  were  to  take  part  in  the  parade.  The 
pageant  formed  in  the  afternoon  at  the  Horticultural  building.  Those  participa- 
ting with  the  decorations  are  given  below : 

1.  Mrs.  F.  P.  Kirkendall,  drag  with  cornflowers  and  wheat. 

2.  Mrs.  H.  T.  Clarke,  white  chrysanthemums. 

3.  Mrs.  George  A.  Joslyn  and  Mrs.  C.  C.  Chase,  scarlet  and  white  poppies. 

4.  Mrs.  George  Mercer,  La  France  roses  and  smilax. 

5.  Mrs.  J.  M.  Metcalf,  shaded  pink  hollyhocks. 


404  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

6.  Mrs.  Robert  Franklin  Smith,  pink  roses  with  natural  foliage. 

7.  Miss  Mary  Mercer,  pony  cart  with  Easter  lilies  and  white  roses. 

8.  Mrs.  Gurdon  W.  Wattles  and  Mrs.  Geo.  F.  Bidwell,  shaded  pink  roses. 

9.  Mrs.  John  L.  Webster,  drag  with  white  horses,  pink  chrysanthemums. 

10.  Miss  Louise  Squires,  American  Beauty  roses. 

11.  Mrs.  J.  N.  Cornish,  royal  purple  chrysanthemums. 

12.  Mrs.  Thomas  W.  Taliaferro,  white  roses  and  white  lilies. 

13.  Mrs.  C.  E.  Squires,  pale  blue  tarleton  and  pink  and  black  poppies. 

14.  Mrs.  H.  H.  Baldridge,  tandem  team. 

15.  Mrs.  J.   H.  Evans  and  Miss  Amy  Barker,  victoria,   heliotrope  and  white  chrysan- 

themums, design  in  Vandyke  points. 

16.  The  Misses  Sharp,  white  roses  and  smilax. 

17.  Mrs.  S.  A.  McWhorter,  pale  yellow  roses. 

18.  Mrs.  J.  E   Baum,  shaded  yellow  and  black  poppies. 

19.  Miss  Elizabeth  Allen,  golden  chrysanthemums. 

20.  Mrs.  John  N.  Baldwin,  pink  poppies. 

21.  Mr.  Al.  Patrick,  the  Patrick  tallyho  coach  in  the  national  colors  in  peonies 

22.  Mrs.  A.  H.  Noyes,  Ak-Sar-Ben  colors  of  red,  green  and  yellow. 

23.  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Ford,  Marechal  Niel  roses. 

24.  Miss  Mount  and  Miss  Dickinson,  burnt  orange  and  amber  chrysanthemums. 

25.  Mrs.  A.  J.  Love  and  Mrs.  Charles  Offutt,  trap  in  morning  glories. 

26.  Miss  Bennett,  canopy-topped  carriage,  various  shades  of  violet. 

27.  Mrs.  M.  C.  Peters,  spider  phaeton,  pink  roses  and,  lavender  chrysanthemums. 

28.  Miss  Parrotte,  water  lilies. 

29.  Mrs.   Downs,  patriotic  colors  of  red,  white  and  blue. 

30.  Miss    Shiverick,    carriage    upholstered    in    white,    latticed    with    smilax.    and    with 

borders  of  pink  chrysanthemums. 

31.  Miss  Andreeson,  spider  phaeton  in  white  chrysanthemums. 

32.  Mrs.  Nicholas  L.  Guckert,  yellow  and  black  poppies. 

33.  Miss  Gertrude  Morand,  pony  cart,  Marechal  Niel  roses. 

34.  Mrs.  Arthur  Brandeis,  golden  butterflies,  tea  and  Marechal  Niel  roses. 

35.  Mrs.  Jack  Cudahy,  spider  phaeton,  white  bride  roses,  ruchings  of  tarleton. 

36.  Mrs.  W.  R.  Kelly,  trap  in  pink  tarleton,  La  France  roses. 

37.  Miss  Alice  Parker,  trap  in  yellow  poppies,  latticed  over  in  pale  green. 

38.  The   Misses   Hamilton,  victoria  in  lavender  and   royal  purple  chrysanthemums. 

39.  Miss  Adelaide  Nash,  trap  in  white  and  yellow  roses. 

40.  Mrs.  G.  W.  Meageath,  cart  in  La  France  roses  and  trimmed  in  white  satin  ribbons. 

The  judges  were  Mayor  Moores  of  Omaha,  Mayor  Jennings  of  Council 
Bluffs,  and  Mayor  Graham  of  Lincoln,  who  bestowed  prizes  upon  the  equipages 
of  Mrs.  J.  H.  Evans,  Mrs.  Howard  Baldridge  and  Mrs.  John  N.  Baldwin,  in 
the  order  named. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  the  thanks  of  the  Exposition 
management  were  tendered  to  Mrs.  T.  M.  Orr  and  her  assistants  for  the  superb 
and  artistic  spectacle  their  parade  had  afforded.  In  particular  recognition  of  the 
work  done  by  the  women  in  putting  on  this  elaborate  pageant  it  was  decided  to 
present  each  of  the  participants  with  a  souvenir  Exposition  medal. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  405 

KANSAS   CITY   DAY  — August  6,  1898 

The  officials  and  citizens  of  Kansas  City  came  in  goodly  numbers  to  celebrate 
that  day.  President  Wattles  and  Mayor  Frank  E.  Moores  welcomed  the  visitors 
as  they  gathered  in  the  Auditorium  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m.,  for  the  ceremonies 
which  had  been  arranged  for  the  occasion.  Mayor  Moores,  in  his  usual  felicitous 
manner,  extended  to  the  visitors  the  freedom  of  the  city  and  presented  Acting 
Mayor  A.  D.  Burrows  with  huge  golden  keys  which  he  explained  would  admit 
the  visitors  to  all  the  pleasures  of  our  city.  Acting  Mayor  Burrows  responded 
and  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  their  admiration  for  the  Trans-Mississippi  and 
International  Exposition,  which  he  declared  was  far  beyond  their  most  sanguine 
expectations. 

Ex-Governor  Crittenden,  of  Missouri,  responded  in  behalf  of  the  State,  and 
after  music  by  the  band,  President  Wattles  formally  addressed  the  visitors.  This 
concluded  the  speech  making,  after  which  the  distinguished  visitors  were  escorted 
to  the  city  by  Mayor  Moores  and  the  city  officials  and  tendered  a  banquet  at  the 
Millard  Hotel. 

RED  MEN'S   DAY  — August  10,  1898 

The  members  of  the  Improved  Order  of  Red  Men,  with  their  wives,  children 
and  friends,  had  designated  this  day  for  their  special  attendance.  Formal  exercises 
were  held  in  the  Auditorium,  consisting  of  an — 

Invocation  Very  Rev.  Campbell  Fair,  Dean  of  Trinity  Cathedral 

Address    President  Wattles 

Address  Mayor  Frank  E.  Moores,  of  Omaha 

Music  Finney's  Band 

Response  Great  Junior  Sagamore  E.  D.  Wiley,  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa 

Music By  the  Band 

Address Grand  Incohonee  Robert  T.  Daniels,  of  Georgia 

This  closed  the  formal  program  of  the  day. 


UNITED  STATES   LIFE-SAVING  SERVICE   DAY  — August  11,  1898 

As  a  part  of  the  United  States  Government  exhibit,  the  life-saving  service 
crew,  with  boats  and  other  appliances  incident  to  the  United  States  Life-Saving 
Service,  was  one  of  the  decided  features  of  the  entire  Exposition.  The  illustra- 
tions of  this  service  were  begun  on  this  day  set  aside  for  special  demonstrations, 
and  these  exhibitions  were  given  daily  thereafter  during  the  remainder  of  the 
Exposition.  The  exhibitions  were  under  the  general  supervision  of  Mr.  Sumner  I. 
Kimball.  General  Superintendent  U.  S.  Life-Saving  Service,  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  were  immediately  in  charge  of  Captain  H.  M.  Knowles,  Wakefield,  R.  I., 


406  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

assistant  superintendent  Third  Life-Saving  District.     The  participants  were  as 
follows : 

CAPTAIN, 

Henry  Cleary,  Marquette,  Mich. 

SURFMEN. 

No.  I.  Henry  Sinnigan,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

No.  2.  Jacob  Van  Weelden,  Grand  Haven,  Mich. 

No.  3.  James  Scott,  Sand  Beach,  Mich. 

No.  4.  Henry  Walker,  Muskegon,  Mich. 

No.  5.  John  McLeod,  Duluth,  Minn. 

No.  6.  Winfield  Adamson,  Grindstone  City,  Mich. 

No.  7.  Frank  Johnson,  Holland,  Mich. 

No.  8.  Nelson  Sims,  East  Tawas,  Mich. 

The  daily  program  was  as  follows : 

Life  Savers  Go  on  Patrol;  Discover  Distress  Signals;  Line  Fired  Over  Wreck. 
Man  Saved  in  Breeches  Buoy ;  Man  Overboard ;  Rescue  With  Lifeboat. 
The  Capsize ;  Apparently  Drowned ;  Resuscitation ;  Close  of  Exercises. 

ST.   JOSEPH  DAY  — August  13,  1898 

The  celebration  of  St.  Joseph  Day  was  one  of  the  most  successful  of  any  of 
the  city  special  days.  Several  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  accompanied  the  Mayor 
and  city  officials  to  the  Exposition  to  celebrate  their  day.  At  twelve  o'clock  fully 
three  thousand  Missourians  had  gathered  in  the  Auditorium  and  the  following 
program  was  carried  out : 

Address  of  Welcome  Mayor  Moores 

Address   President  Wattles 

Response Mayor  Kirschner,  of  St.  Joseph 

Music  by  the  Band. 

This  concluded  the  formal  exercises,  and  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent 
in  visiting  the  Exposition  sights. 

TEXAS   DAY  — August  18,  1898 

The  celebration  of  Texas  Day  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  many 
State-day  celebrations  at  the  Exposition.  The  program  consisted  of : 

Address  of  Welcome Lieut.-Gov.  J.  E.  Harris,  of  Nebraska 

Response  Gov.  Culberson,  of  Texas 

Address President   Wattles 

Music By  the  Band 

Oration  Governor  R.  B.  Hubbard 

After  the  speaking  the  official  guests  of  the  day  were  entertained  at  luncheon 
by  the  Exposition  officials. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


407 


DES   MOINES  DAY  — August  23,  1898 

A  large  number  of  excursionists  from  Des 
Moines  and  from  other  parts  of  Iowa  assembled 
at  the  Auditorium  for  the  formal  exercises  of  Des 
Moines  Day.  The  program- was  as  follows: 

Music  by  the  Band. 

Address  of  Welcome Mayor  Moores 

Response Mayor  Mac  Vicar,  of  Des  Moines 

Address President  Wattles 

Music. 

Address President  Thomas  Hutton,  of  the 

Commercial  Exchange  of  Des  Moines 
Address Secretary  Ward,  of  the 

Commercial  Exchange  of  Des  Moines 
Music. 

After  the  exercises,  the  visitors  were  enter- 
tained at  dinner  at  the  Markel  Cafe. 


John  MacVicar, 
Mayor  of  Des  Moines 


OMAHA  WORLD-HERALD  AND   NEBRASKA  EDITORS'   DAY 

August  24,  1898 

The  Omaha  World-Herald  had  requested  and  been  granted  a  special  day 
in  which  to  celebrate  the  achievements  of  this  progressive  daily  newspaper.  The 
occasion  of  the  celebration  was  the  thirteenth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the 
Evening  World,  which  grew  to  be  the  World-Herald.  The  day  was  the  same 
as  that  set  aside  as  Nebraska  Editors'  Day,  and  the  two  celebrations  were  there- 
fore merged.  The  entertainment  consisted  of  a  luncheon  served  at  the  Markel 
Cafe  at  the  expense  of  the  editor  of  the  World-Herald.  G.  M.  Hitchcock, 
proprietor  of  that  paper,  presided.  After  luncheon  the  speech-making  was  started 
by  Mr.  Hitchcock,  who  spoke  of  the  many  pleasures  the  Exposition  afforded  his 
friends,  and  of  the  numerous  trials  and  great  effort  by  which  this  grand  spectacle 
had  been  made  possible.  He  then  introduced  President  Wattles,  who  spoke 
briefly  of  the  history  and  progress  of  the  Exposition,  and  in  closing  referred 
to  the  grand  Peace  Jubilee  which  had  been  planned  for  the  month  of  October. 
He  referred  to  the  fact  that  Captain  Jones  of  the  22d  Infantry  was  present, 
carrying  a  Spanish  bullet  in  his  leg.  His  reference  to  Captain  Jones  was  the 
occasion  of  great  cheering,  which  called  for  a  short  acknowledgment  from  the 
Captain.  Dr.  George  L.  Miller,  founder  of  the  Omalia  Herald,  responded  to  the 
toast  "Seed  Time  and  Harvest  of  Newspaperdom."  He  spoke  in  his  usual 
felicitous  manner,  and  elicited  much  laughter  and  applause. 

W.  S.  Burr,  of  the  Aurora  Register,  responded  to  the  toast,  "Nebraska :  She 
Leads  Them  All."  He  spoke,  in  part,  as  follows : 

"In  some  respects  I  am  unfitted  by  nature  to  make  response  to  the  toast 
proposed,  being  of  an  argumentative  disposition  and  accustomed  to  reach 
conclusions  only  by  exhaustive  and  exhausting  discussion.  A  question  with  only 


408  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

one  side  to  it,  and  no  end  at  all,  is  a  very  difficult  one  for  me  to  handle.  When 
a  boy,  I  remember  reflecting  on  the  awful  consequences  of  a  supposed  encounter 
between  an  irresistible  force  and  an  immovable  body,  but  they  are  likely  to 
prove  mild  in  comparison  with  the  result  when  an  interminable  talker  comes  into 
perihelion  with  an  inexhaustible  subject. 

"That  Nebraska  leads  them  all  is  a  self-evident  proposition.  Who  would 
produce  statistics  to  demonstrate  that  the  sun  shines  or  the  wind  blows? 
(Especially  would  it  resemble  the  carrying  of  coals  to  Newcastle  to  attempt 
to  prove  by  figures  or  diagrams  that  the  wind  blows  in  Nebraska.)  The  people 
of  this  State  have  acquired  a  reputation  of  being  a  little  extravagant  and  given 
to  exaggeration  when  speaking  of  its  advantages.  I  shall,  therefore,  weigh  well 
my  words  and  be  ultra-conservative  in  every  statement  made,  preferring  only  the 
modest  claim  that  Nebraska  has  the  richest  soil,  the  purest  air,  the  best  water, 
and  as  manly  men  and  womanly  women  as  can  be  found  on  this  earth. 

"One  has  but  to  breathe  the  lifeless  air  of  the  lower  altitudes ;  note  the 
stunted  products  of  the  red  and  yellow  putty  called  farm  land  throughout  the 
East  and  South ;  attempt  to  swallow  the  lukewarm  solution  of  clay  which  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  good  people  must  use  as  a  beverage,  to  be  keenly  sensible  of 
some  of  the  everyday,  yet  priceless  blessings  in  which  Nebraska  leads  them  all. 
Xo  person  who  has  sweltered  through  the  long  night  and  until  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning  for  a  refreshing  breath,  or  who  has  felt  the  touch  of  malaria  in  his 
system,  would  be  willing  to  exchange  our  climate  for  all  the  big  red  apples  of 
the  universe. 

"I  am  of  the  West,  Western.  I  have  lived  here  for  more  than  a  quarter 
century,  and  have  passed  from  boyhood  to  manhood  in  a  homestead  country. 
I  can  remember  breaking  sod  day  after  day  when  the  highest  object  in  sight  was 
the  ears  of  my  taller  horse. 

"I  have  witnessed  the  development  of  our  State  from  a  barren,  treeless  plain 
to  one  of  the  most  fertile  and  beautiful  countries  ever  sung  by  poets  or  prosed 
over  by  historians.  The  labor  of  one  generation  of  men  has  effected  this  trans- 
formation, and  next  to  the  welfare  of  my  family  I  have  no  stronger  wish  than 
to  see  Nebraska  owned  free  and  clear  of  encumbrance  by  the  people  who  have 
sacrificed  so  much  to  make  it  what  it  is. 

"Long  ago  in  the  days  of  'hoppers,' 
When  real  estate  agents  dealt  in  whoppers. 
House  of  sod  with  roof  poles  limber. 
Buffalo  grass  and  cottonwood  timber; 
People  poor — with  hearts  of  pity, 
Each  incipient  town  a  city ; 
Hedgerows  broke,  but  roads  across  'em. 
Folks  that  let  nobody  boss  'em; 
That's  the  West  as  I  first  knew  it. 

"The  settlers  of  those  days  may  have  had  to  live  largely  on  'bread  and  with  it,' 
but  no  heroes  have  greater  claims  on  the  world's  history  than  the  pioneers  of 
Nebraska.  Earnest  and  indomitable,  hard-working  and  self-denying,  they  labored 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  409 

to  make  homes  for  their  children,  and  they  bore  with  fortitude — nay,  with 
unexampled  good  humor — all  the  misfortunes  of  frontier  life. 

"One  day  in  August  a  forlorn,  disheartened-looking  team,  drawing  a  rickety 
wagon,  passed  through  our  'city/  bearing  a  Western  family  back  East  for  a 
winter's  visit  to  the  'wife's  folks.'  As  they  drove  by,  a  crowd  of  young  fellows 
gathered  in  front  of  the  harness  shop,  and  it  became  apparent  from  the  looks  and 
gestures  of  the  spectators  that  they  were  poking  fun  at  his  rig.  Quick  as  a  flash 
the  homesteader  gave  to  his  willing  team  the  signal  to  stop,  and  leveling  his 
long  forefinger  at  the  boys,  shouted  earnestly :  'Look  here,  strangers,  I  ain't  so 
darned  poor  as  you  think  I  am.  One  of  these  horses  isn't  mine.' 

"Such  citizenship  is  one  of  the  resources  of  Nebraska.  The  best  harvest  of 
which  any  land  can  boast  is  brave  and  worthy  men  and  women.  The  best  heritage 
we  can  leave  our  children  is  an  ancestry  that  merits  their  emulation.  These 
things  have  left  their  impress  upon  Nebraska.  Springing  from  such  stock, 
surrounded  by  such  environments,  who  wonders  that  everything  here  is  done  on 
a  large  scale ;  that  our  stock  fields  are  so  extensive  that  we  are  spoken  of  as 
the  'fodder  land ;'  that  we  could  furnish  a  necklace  of  corn  cribs  to  encircle  almost 
any  territory  desired ;  that  our  commerce,  both  internal  and  external,  exceeds 
that  of  any  other  commonwealth  of  equal  age,  and  that  in  the  late  Spanish 
skirmish  we  made  a  record  that  proves  us  worthy  sons  of  the  brave  sires  who, 
in  the  days  of  rebellion,  from  a  population  of  thirty  thousand — possibly  seventy-five 
hundred  families — sent  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  seven  officers  and  men 
to  fight  for  freedom. 

"To  conclude,  Nebraska  is  noted  for  her  peculiarities,  her  possibilities  and 
her  productions.  The  fame  of  our  pure  air,  Poland  China  pigs  and  pop-pop- 
popular  government  has  gone  abroad  in  the  land.  Who  has  not  heard  of  our 
bright  women,  brainy  men,  and  Bry-an?  Where  can  you  find  the  equal  of  our 
cattle,  corn  or  country  newspapers  ?  Our  crops  are  world-beaters ;  our  Exposition 
beats  the  World's  Fair;  and  our  World-Herald  can't  be  beat. 

"The  day  has  come  when  we  can  attune  our  voices  not  only  to  the  melody 
of  pioneer  days : 

"A  home,  a  home, 

Where  the  deer  and  antelope  play ; 
Where  seldom  is  heard 
A  discouraging  word, 
And  the  sky  is  not  clouded  all  day. 

"But  remembering  the  achievements  of  the  years  gone  by,  can  watch  the  more 
majestic  strains: 

"From  Atlantic  to  rocky  Sierras, 

No  people  more  loyal  or  true, 
Nebraska,  the  gem  of  the  prairies, 

The  best  'neath  the  red,  white  and  blue." 

G.  W.  Hurlbut,  of  the  Aurora  Sun,  responded  to  the  toast,  "A  Country 
Yokel." 


410  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

W.  J.  White,  of  the  Exeter  Enterprise,  responded  to  the  toast,  "The  Late 
Unpleasantness." 

W.  T.  Howard,  of  the  Schuyler  Sun,  responded  to  the  toast,  "The  Exposition 
as  an  Educator."  He  closed  his  eloquent  address  with  the  following  words: 
"The  memory  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  will  ever  remain  an  enduring 
monument  to  Western  energy  and  civilization,  and  of  the  minds  who  conceived 
and  carried  the  project  to  practical  results." 

The  program  closed  with  the  toast,  "The  Country  Press :  Its  Might  and  Its 
Mercy,"  responded  to  by  Edgar  Howard,  of  the  Papillion  Times. 

SIOUX   CITY  DAY  — August  25,  1898 

The  Sioux  City  residents  came  in  force  to  celebrate  their  day  on  the 
Exposition  grounds.  They  wore  badges  with  the  following  legend:  "We  are 
whooping  it  up  for  the  Mondamin  Carnival,  Sioux  City,  October  third  to  eighth, 
that's  what  we  are  whooping  for."  The  Sioux  City  special  was  met  at  the  north 
gate  of  the  Exposition  by  Manager  Clarkson,  Mayor  Moores,  and  members 
of  the  Omaha  City  Council,  and  escorted  to  the  Auditorium,  where  the  usual 
felicitations  were  exchanged,  with  the  following  program : 

Music. 

Address  of  Welcome Mayor  Moores,  of  Omaha 

Response  Mayor  Quick,  of  Sioux  City 

Music. 

Address General  Manager  Clarkson,  of  the  Exposition 

Address Solicitor  Gill,  of  Sioux  City 

BOHEMIAN   DAY  — August  27,  1898 

Bohemian  Day  was  celebrated  by  a  parade  on  the  Exposition  grounds  along 
the  West  Midway  to  Twentieth  street,  and  thence  to  the  Administration  Arch, 
and  thence  through  the  Grand  Court  to  the  Auditorium.  The  exercises  in  the 
Auditorium  were  interesting,  and  consisted  of  an  address  of  welcome  by  Manager 
Rosewater,  of  the  Exposition.  In  his  address  he  spoke  feelingly  of  the  changes 
that  had  taken  place  since  he  came  to  Omaha  as  a  boy.  He  expressed  great 
pride  at  the  celebration  of  the  day,  and  declared  he  was  never  prouder  in  his 
life  than  to  see  that  magnificent  audience  present. 

Music    Bohemian    Chorus 

Address  Prof.  B.  Sinek,  of  the  Iowa  State  University 

Address Mrs.  Joseph  Humpal-Zeman,  of  Chicago,  Editress  of  the  Bohemian  Journal 

Music Bohemian    Chorus 

Address   Hon.  Cenek  Duras,  of  Wilber,  Nebraska 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  celebration  was  the  drills  of  the 
Bohemian  Turner  Societies  on  the  Grand  Plaza  in  the  afternoon .  The  societies 
participating  were  those  of  Omaha,  St.  Louis  and  Cedar  Rapids.  These  drills 
were  witnessed  with  much  interest  by  thousands  of  visitors. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  411 

CODY   DAY  — August  31,  1898 

Colonel  William  F.  Cody — Buffalo  Bill — had  asked  that  a  special  day  be 
set  aside  in  honor  of  his  visit  to  the  Exposition.  He  came  at  the  head  of  his 
grand  parade  of  the  "Men  of  all  Nations,"  and  the  many  unique  features  of  his 
great  ''Wild  West  Show."  Gathered  on  the  Plaza  were  many  distinguished 
Nebraskans  to  meet  him.  No  less  than  four  ex-governors  besides  the  present 
Governor  of  Nebraska  were  present.  The  exercises  consisted  of  speech-making, 
after  which  the  distinguished  guests  were  escorted  through  the  Indian  Encamp- 
ment grounds  and  back  to  the  Markel  Cafe,  where  luncheon  had  been  provided 
by  Colonel  Cody  for  all  the  distinguished  guests.  Numerous  toasts  were  given 
and  responded  to,  and  the  day  was  voted  a  great  success. 

KANSAS   DAY  — September  1,  1898 

Address  of  President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles : 

"At  the  dedication  of  the  Kansas  building  on  these  grounds,  it  was  my 
pleasure  to  speak  briefly  of  the  material  resources,  wealth  and  magnificent 
proportions  and  fertility  of  the  State.  I  can  not  allow  this  opportunity  to  pass 
without  reviewing  those  historic  events  which  for  many  years  made  Kansas 
the  battle-ground  of  public  opinion,  and  which  finally  culminated  in  the  Civil 
War,  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  the  development  of  an  independent 
progressive  civilization. 

"During  the  possession  of  Spain  and  France  of  the  vast  territory  which 
now  constitutes  most  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  country,  very  little  was  known 
of  the  country,  then  supposed  to  be  a  wilderness,  only  habitable  by  savage  tribes. 
It  is  said  that  Coronado  was  the  first  white  man  to  explore  the  State.  He  was 
in  search  of  rich  provinces,  rumored  to  abound  in  magnificent  cities,  with  untold 
wealth.  For  nearly  three  hundred  years  after  his  unsuccessful  search,  history  is 
silent.  In  1820,  Major  Long  explored  a  part  of  the  State,  and  described  its 
prairies  'billowy  bays  of  grass  ever  rolling  in  shade  and  sunshine.'  He  found 
in  the  western  part  of  the  State  buffalo,  elk  and  deer  sufficient  to  feed  all  the 
savages  in  the  United  States  for  a  century  to  come.  But  it  was  not  until  1853 
that  settlers  .in  any  large  numbers  came  to  make  their  homes  in  this  then 
unorganized  territory.  By  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill,  which  became  a  law 
in  1854,  breaking  the  Missouri  compromise  of  1820,  Kansas  became  the  theater 
on  which  was  to  be  enacted  the  first  scene  in  the  great  drama  of  the  Civil  War. 
The  contest  for  supremacy  between  the  slaveholders  and  the  abolitionists  began 
when  the  Cavalier  of  the  South  and  the  Puritan  of  the  North,  with  conflicting 
ideas  in  morality,  religion  and  politics,  met  to  contest  for  supremacy.  For  many 
years  the  enthusiasts  of  both  sides  of  the  great  question  of  slavery  emigrated 
from  all  parts  of  the  North  and  South  to  this  new  territory  and  engaged  in 
contention  for  principles  rather  than  in  the  work  of  developing  the  resources 
of  the  State.  The  contests  at  the  polls,  at  public  meetings,  and  in  legislative 
bodies,  frequently  culminated  in  scenes  of  blood  and  carnage  which  excited  the 
passions  of  both  sections  represented.  John  Brown  was  a  fanatic  only  a  few 


412  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

degrees  more  enthusiastic  than  many  others  who  went  from  the  North  and  East 
to  prevent  the  territory  from  declaring  for  slavery.  The  occupation  of  these 
early  settlers  was  exciting  but  unprofitable.  The  framing  of  constitutions,  the 
election  of  legislatures  and  the  frequent  personal  contests  finally  culminated  in 
the  triumph  of  the  Free  State  Party,  and  the  framing  of  a  State  Constitution, 
which  was  ratified  by  the  people  in  1859,  and  finally  approved  by  Congress  in 
1861,  when  the  State  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

"In  seven  years  Kansas  had  had  seven  territorial  Governors,  had  framed 
four  State  constitutions,  and  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world  to  the 
great  issue  of  human  slavery.  The  remaining  scenes  in  the  drama  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  halls  of  Congress,  to  the  political  organizations  of  the  nation,  and 
finally  to  the  battle-fields  of  the  Civil  War,  and  the  people  of  Kansas,  after 
years  of  agitation  and  excitement,  settled  down  to  the  more  serious  business 
of  providing  homes  and  bread  for  a  rapidly  increasing  population ;  but  their 
troubles  were  not  to  end.  The  year  1860  will  forever  be  remembered  as  one  of 
drouth  and  famine.  The  records  show  that  from  June,  1859,  to  November, 
1860,  there  was  not  a  shower  of  rain  at  any  time  sufficient  to  wet  the  earth 
two  inches  in  depth.  Throughout  the  entire  State  and  many  other  States  of 
the  South  the  blasting  blight  of  famine  and  want  was  felt.  The  word  went  out 
throughout  the  land  that  men  and  women  were  starving,  and  would  suffer  from 
cold  and  hunger  without  the  aid  of  other  States.  The  great  heart  of  the  nation 
was  aroused  by  these  appeals,  and  from  every  quarter  of  the  country  came  the 
response  in  aid  of  suffering  humanity.  The  limited  means  of  transportation 
were  taxed  to  their  utmost  to  carry  the  gifts  of  the  nation  to  the  inhabitants 
of  a  suffering  State.  One-fhird  of  the  population  of  the  State  returned  to 
Eastern  friends  and  homes,  and  for  many  years  the  evil  effects  and  exaggerated 
reports  of  this  great  drouth  retarded  the  growth  of  this  rich  State. 

"Notwithstanding  this  great  calamity,  those  pioneers  who  remained  on  their 
farms  were  richly  rewarded  by  abundant  crops  and  a  period  of  prosperity  which 
enabled  them  to  repay  their  debt  to  the  nation  by  furnishing  more  troops  in 
proportion  to  population  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  than  any  other 
State  in  the  Union. 

"The  conflicting  elements  of  the  early  pioneers  became  united  by  the 
marriage  of  their  sons  and  daughters.  The  question  of  slavery  ceased  to  be  an 
issue,  and  its  final  solution  by  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  cemented  all 
conflicting  elements,  leaving  only  the  enthusiasm,  the  originality  and  the 
independence  of  thought  and  action  which  at  all  times  has  characterized  the 
inhabitants  of  this  State. 

"Great  men  in  State  and  national  affairs,  willing  and  able  to  assert  and 
maintain  original  and  progressive  principles  in  philosophy,  morals,  and  politics, 
stand  out  in  the  history  of  the  nation,  forever  placing  Kansas  in  the  front  rank  of 
reform.  Kansas  was  one  of  the  first  States  to  declare  for  prohibition,  to  grant 
the  mothers  and  sisters  rights  of  property  and  franchise,  to  protest  against 
the  combinations  of  capital  and  greed  of  corporations.  The  names  of  Lain . 
Plumb  and  Tngalls  have  honored  the  State  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  while  Glick, 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


413 


Martin  and  Leedy  are  known  throughout  the  land  as  men  of  original  ideas  with 
the  courage  to  enforce  their  convictions.  Mrs.  Lease  and  Jerry  Simpson  are 
types  of  the  original,  aggressive  and  progressive  elements  which  abound  in  this 
State.  We  may  denounce  their  theories,  but  we  must  admit  their  sincerity. 

"With  such  a  population,  supplemented  with  a  land  of  sunshine  and  rich 
soil,  unsurpassed  in  fertility  by  any  other  State  in  the  Union,  Kansas  will 
always  be  found  in  the  front  rank  in  all  progressive  enterprises  among  the 
people  of  the  West.  The  State  is  always  represented  at  conventions  for  the 
promotion  of  Western  interests.  At  this  Exposition,  which  illustrates  in  such 
magnificence  the  wealth,  progress  and  prosperity 
of  the  great  West,  Kansas  takes  her  place  with  no 
apologies,  and  I  anticipate  that  at  the  great  live- 
stock exhibit  to  be  made  here  in  October  her  live- 
stock productions,  which  have  an  annual  value  of 
fifty  million  dollars,  and  her  dairy  products,  second 
to  those  of  no  other  State,  will  receive  such  recog- 
nition as  their  excellence  and  magnitude  deserve. 

"When  we  consider  that  the  State  is  yet  in 
its  infancy  in  development,  but  that  the  annual 
product  of  its  farms  is  greater  in  value  than  the 
entire  output  of  the  gold  and  silver  mines  of  the 
Union,  that  the  value  of  its  livestock  exceeds  one 
hundred  million  dollars,  that  the  wealth  of  the 
State  aggregates  one  billion  eight  hundred  million 
dollars,  that  the  value  of  its  annual  manufactures 
is  equal  to  its  farm  products,  and  that  all  this  wealth  and  progress  has  been 
accumulated  and  made  within  a  single  generation,  we  can  but  prophesy  a  future 
for  this  State  abounding  in  wealth  and  progress  beyond  the  dreams  of  the  wildest 
imagination. 

"The  inhabitants  of  the  nation  are  now  rejoicing  over  tfie  victories  of  our 
army  and  navy,  which  have  been  achieved  by  the  bravery  of  our  soldiers  and 
sailors.  Grave  problems  are  to  be  solved  by  the  more  peaceful  but  not  less 
potent  contests  of  diplomacy  yet  to  follow.  The  acquisition  of  new  territory, 
inhabited  by  people  of  inferior  civilization,  is  one  of  the  important  subjects  for 
consideration.  A  careful  study  of  the  undeveloped  resources  of  our  present 
magnificent  domain  should  be  one  of  the  first  duties  of  all  statesmen  charged 
with  the  solution  of  this  important  and  far-reaching  subject.  Within  the 
boundaries  of  the  State  of  Kansas  there  are  more  than  a  million  acres  of 
Government  land,  subject  to  homestead  entry,  as  rich  and  fertile  as  Cuba  or  the 
Philippines,  which  only  awaits  the  application  of  irrigation  from  the  mountain 
streams  to  support  a  population  equal  to  the  present  population  of  the  State. 
The  same  is  true  of  many  other  of  the  States  and  territories  lying  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  There  are  mines  in  our  mountains  with  untold  wealth  yet  undis- 
covered. Our  farmers  only  need  capital  to  erect  factories  which  will  produce 
sugar  from  beets  in  greater  quantities  than  can  be  extracted  from  the  cane 


Gov.  George  W.  Click 


414  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

which  grows  in  Hawaii  and  Cuba.  Whether  the  energies  of  our  people  should 
be  diverted  to  the  conquest  of  foreign,  uncivilized  subjects,  or  be  expended  in 
developing  and  building  up  the  untold  resources  of  our  present  domain,  is  a 
question  worthy  of  the  most  serious  consideration. 

"This  occasion  is  neither  proper  nor  opportune  for  the  discussion  of  serious 
subjects  of  policy  or  politics.  I  congratulate  the  people  of  Kansas  on  the 
magnificent  opportunities  this  State  offers  to  homeseekers  and  investors.  I 
congratulate  the  State  on  the  enterprise  and  energy  of  its  citizens,  displayed 
in  the  beautiful  building  and  splendid  exhibit  at  this  Exposition.  I  congratulate 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  the  Commissioners  and  all  of  its  citizens  here  today 
on  the  success  of  Kansas  Day,  and  wish  for  them  one  and  all  such  prosperity 
as  the  fortitude  of  their  pioneers  and  the  enthusiasm  and  enterprise  of  their 
citizens  deserve." 

NEBRASKA  PEACH  AND  POTTAWATTAMIE   COUNTY    (IOWA) 
GRAPE   DAY  —  September  2,  1898 

This  day  was  set  aside  for  the  free  distribution  of  samples  of  Nebraska 
peaches  and  Pottawattamie  County,  Iowa,  grapes.  The  peaches  were  distributed 
from  the  Horticultural  building,  and  something  like  1,000  baskets  of  ripe, 
luscious  peaches  were  given  away.  The  grapes  were  distributed  from  the 
Pottawattamie  County  Wigwam,  and  several  tons  were  carried  away  by  the 
thousands  of  visitors  that  were  attracted  on  account  of  this  distribution. 

In  the  evening  a  masked  carnival  was  given  on  the  Grand  Court  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Bureau'  of  Entertainment.  At  8 130  p.  m.,  led  by  the  McCook 
Band;  about  five  hundred  Omaha  society  people,  en  masque,  promenaded  around 
the  Grand  Court.  Confetti  was  used  in  profusion,  and  the  evening  proved  a 
most  enjoyable  one  to  all  spectators. 

NATIONAL  EDITORIAL  ASSOCIATION   DAY  —  September  3,  1898 

About  four  hundred  editors,  en  route  to  the  meeting  of  the  National  Editorial 
Association  at  Denver,  stopped  at  the  Exposition  and  spent  the  day  in  sight- 
seeing. No  formal  exercises  interfered  with  their  pleasure-seeking  on  the 
Exposition  grounds.  They  were  met  at  the  depot  by  Colonel  R.  W.  Richardson 
and  escorted  to  the  Press  building  on  the  Exposition  grounds  and  spent  the  day 
pleasantly,  leaving  for  Denver  late  in  the  evening. 

MONTANA   DAY  — September  6,  1898 

The  exercises  celebrating  Montana  Day  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  accord- 
ing to  the  following  program : 

Music    Omaha   Concert   Band 

Address  Vice- President  Sutherlin 

Address  of  Welcome  Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb 

Response Governor  R.  B.  Smith,  of  Montana 

Music    Omaha   Concert   Band 

Address    .  ..President   Wattles 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  415 

MILITARY   DAY  —  September  7,  1898 

The  return  of  the  Second  Nebraska  Regiment  from  the  tropical  countries  of 
the  south  gave  occasion  for  a  celebration  in  their  honor,  and  the  officers  and  men 
received  a  royal  welcome  on  the  Exposition  grounds  as  they  appeared  in  uniform 
in  marching  columns.  The  regiment  arrived  at  the  Twenty-fourth  street  entrance 
a  little  after  ten  o'clock  and  was  met  by  Governor  Holcomb,  Adjutant-General 
Barry  and  Military  Secretary  Ayres,  who  carried  the  Nebraska  colors.  The  Sec- 
ond Regiment  Band  preceded  the  soldiers  and  was  followed  by  Colonel  C.  J.  Bills 
and  staff,  and  the  three  marching  battalions  of  the  regiment  in  platoons.  After 
reaching  the  Plaza,  the  exercises  incident  to  welcoming  this  regiment  home 
again  were  held  from  the  band  stand,  and  consisted  of  the  following  program : 

Address  of  Welcome  Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb 

Address  of  Welcome  Mayor  Moores 

Music    Omaha  Concert   Band 

Address  Colonel  C.  J.  Bills 

Address    President  Wattles 

After  the  exercises  were  concluded  the  company  stacked  arms  on  the  Plaza 
and  a  luncheon  at  the  Markel  Restaurant  was  served  to  the  soldiers.  The 
remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  by  them  in  enjoying  the  sights  of  the  Exposition, 
and  in  meeting  their  friends  and  relatives  who  had  come  from  all  points  of  the 
State  to  welcome  them  home. 

LUMBERMEN'S  DAY:   HOO-HOO   DAY  —  September  9,  1898 

The  members  of  the  Nebraska  Lumbermen's  Association  furnished  entertain- 
ment for  the  thousands  who  witnessed  the  log-rolling  contest  in  the  afternoon  at 
the  mirror  of  the  Lagoon  for  a  purse  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Delegates 
were  present  from  Kansas  City,  Denver,  Minneapolis,  and  numerous  cities  in  Iowa 
and  Nebraska.  A  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held  at  the  Minneapolis  build- 
ing at  two  o'clock  p.  m.,  after  which  the  log-rolling  contest  took  place.  The  first 
prize  was  won  by  T.  H.  Fleming,  of  Eau  Claire,  Wisconsin. 

This  day  had  also  been  set  aside  for  the  celebration  of  the  societies  of  the 
Woodmen  of  the  World.  Their  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at  two 
o'clock  p.  m.,  and  consisted  of  the  following  program : 

Address  of  Welcome  Mayor  Moores 

Music   Male  Quartette 

Address C.  C.  Farmer,  of  Mt.  Carroll,  111. 

Music    Omaha  Concert   Band 

After  the  exercises  a  competitive  drill  of  two  teams  from  the  Alpha  Camp 
No.  i  and  the  Columbus  Camp  No.  69  was  held  on  the  Plaza  for  a  cash  prize  of 
seventy-five  dollars,  and  was  won  by  the  Alpha  Camp. 

While  the  lumbermen  and  Woodmen  of  the  World  were  celebrating,  thou- 
sands of  Rocky  Ford,  Colorado,  melons  were  distributed  free  at  the  Horticultural 


416 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


building,  and  with  all  these  sources  of  special  entertainment  this  was  one  of  the 
banner  days  of  the  Exposition. 

SHRINER   DAY— September  14,  1898 

Shriners  from  all  parts  of  the  country  gathered  early  to  celebrate  this,  their 
day  at  the  Exposition.  Early  the  Auditorium  was  filled  with  Nobles  gathered 
from  all  parts  of  the  country.  They  were  entertained  by  speeches  and  other 
exercises  as  follows : 

Address  of  Welcome  Xoble  Henry  Hardy 

Address  of  Welcome  Mayor  Moores 

Music Omaha   Concert   Band 

Address President  Wattles 

Address  E.  F.  Allen,  of  Kansas  City 

Music .' Band 

Address John  Wesley  Geiger,  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa 

Address  '. Rev.  S.  Wright  Butler 


After  the  exercises  the  Nobles  were  entertained  at  luncheon  at  the  Markel 


Cafe. 


OKLAHOMA   DAY  —  September  16,   1898 


The  celebration  of  Oklahoma  State  Day  consisted  of  the  usual  entertainment 
at  the  Auditorium,  where  a  large  number  of  Oklahoma's  citizens  gathered  in  the 
early  day,  and  the  following  program  was  the  order  of  the  day : 

Music  First  Regiment  Band 

Address  President  Wattles 

Response  Governor  Barnes,  of  Oklahoma 

Music   First   Regiment  Band 

Address J.  C.  Roberts,  of  Kingfisher,  Okla. 

Address Major  E.  A.  Woodson,  of  Oklahoma 

Music. 

On  the  evening  of  September  20,  a  dinner  was 
given  at  the  Omaha  Club  by  the  Iowa  Commission 
in  honor  of  Governor  Shaw,  the  State  officers, 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  from 
Iowa,  the  President  and  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Exposition  and  the  Commissioners  from  the 
several  States  and  territories  participating  in  the 
Exposition  and  others.  This  dinner  was  exceed- 
ingly successful,  both  in  point  of  menu  served 
and  on  account  of  the  excellent  toasts  and  music 

Cassius  M.  Barnes  furnished. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


417 


IOWA   DAY  —  September  21,  1898 

The  celebration  of  Iowa  Day  had  been  advertised  throughout  the  State  of 
Iowa,  and  special  trains  came  from  all  parts  of  that  State  loaded  with  enthusiastic 
visitors.  Excursion  rates  had  been  made  by  all  the  railroads  in  Iowa,  and  the 
effect  of  this  was  early  seen  in  the  large  crowds  which  they  brought  to  the 
Exposition  gates.  The  program  celebrating  this  day  was  one  of  unusual  interest. 
It  was  held  in  the  Auditorium  at  2 130  p.  m.  The  Auditorium  was  filled  to 
overflowing  when  the  exercises  were  commenced  by  an  organ  voluntary,  introduc- 
ing the  following  program : 

Introductory  Address    Vice-President  Allen   Dawson 

Overture — "The  Wizard  of  the  West" Ladies'  Band  of  Eldora 

Invocation. 

Violin  Solo   Lucile  Franchere 

Earl  Byers,  Accompanist. 

Address  His  Excellency,  Leslie  M.  Shaw,  Governor  of  Iowa 

Solo — "Delight" Nellie  Mae  Brewster 

Address  Gurdon  W.  Wattles,  President  Exposition 

Vocal  Solo — "Star  Spangled  Banner" Mary  Theresa  Louthan 

Oration  Hon.  Robert  G.  Cousins 

Quickstep — "Uncle    Remus" Barnard 

Iowa  Agricultural  College  Cadet  Band. 

ADDRESS,  GOVERNOR  LESLIE  M.  SHAW 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Citizens  and  Friends  of  Iowa :  'Not  many  generations 
ago,  in  the  place  where  you  now  sit,  encircled  by  all  that  exalts  and  embellishes 
civilized  life,  the  rank  thistle  nodded  in  the  breeze,  and  the  wild  fox  digged  his 
hole  unscared.'  So  said  Charles  Sprague,  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  ago,  and  the  utterance  is  as 
true  when  applied  to  the  land  of  the  Omahas  as  to 
the  land  of  the  Wampanoags. 

"We  meet  this  day  as  citizens  of  Iowa,  on  the 
soil  of  a  sister  State,  for  no  idle  purpose.  The 
people  of  Iowa  are  not  idlers,  but  the  day  will 
have  been  lost  to  us  and  to  our  children,  unless 
what  is  here  said,  and  done,  and  witnessed,  and 
enjoyed,  shall  bring  greater  thoughtfulness  and 
increased  earnestness.  The  half  century  and  two 
years  since  the  admission  of  Iowa  added  the 
twenty-ninth  star  to  the  flag  which  has  now  become 
the  protector  of  the  world  have  wrought  great 
changes.  Most  of  the  improvements  of  earth, 
most  of  the  progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  most 
of  the  advance  in  civilization,  have  been  wrought  within  the  period  of  our 
State  history.  Time  would  not  permit,  if  the  inclination  were  present,  to  recount 


Leslie  M.  Shaw, 
Governor  of  Iowa 


418  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

the  achievements  in  the  political,  industrial,  financial,  agricultural,  mechanical, 
scientific,  educational,  religious  or  moral  world.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  in  all 
of  these  Iowa  has  rendered  her  full  share  of  service,  and  has  reaped  her  full 
measure  of  blessing.  We  can  well  afford  to  leave  to  others  the  study  of  the 
past.  Let  it  be  ours  manfully  to  face  the  future,  now  more  than  ever  big 
with  possibilities,  and  with  careful  glance  ahead  improve  the  present. 

"In  all  the  grand  exhibit  of  this  remarkable  Exposition  there  is  not  found  that 
for  which  our  State  has  greatest  reason  to  rejoice.  The  product  of  the  farm,  of 
the  orchard,  of  the  garden,  of  the  herd,  of  the  dairy,  of  the  factory,  of  the  mine 
are  here  in  great  quantity  and  of  superb  quality.  Truly,  Iowa  is  great  in  territory, 
great  in  resources,  great  in  product,  and  she  is  greatest  of  all  in  her  children. 
There  is  presented  to  my  eye  from  the  platform  that  which  is  infinitely  more 
valuable  than  all  herds  and  all  harvests.  I  see  scattered  through  this  audience 
many  of  the  youth  of  Iowa.  They  are  from  the  city,  from  the  town,  from  the 
hamlet,  and  from  the  Iowa  farm.  They  are  representative  of  an  aggregate  of 
seven  hundred  thousand  of  school  age,  and  of  an  equal  number  who  have  just 
passed  from  educational  tuition  to  face  the  activities,  the  anxieties,  and  the  achieve- 
ments of  manhood  and  womanhood.  These  all  belong  to  a  generation  which  will 
surely  be  heard  from.  Their  fathers  and  mothers  have  been  industrious,  have 
been  ambitious,  have  been  hopeful,  and  have  been  successful.  A  generation  thus 
circumstanced  is  always  potential.  Dr.  Strong  tells  of  a  township  in  the  western 
reserve  which  was  settled  with  an  energetic,  liberty-loving,  God-fearing,  educa- 
tionally inclined  people,  and  which  in  a  limited  period  furnished  many  members 
of  the  State  Legislature.  From  that  community  of  only  a  few  hundred  inhabitants 
men  went  forth  to  college  professorships  east  and  west,  to  the  supreme  bench  of 
the  State,  and  to  the  United  States  Congress.  Northampton,  Mass.,  has  among 
its  native  and  resident  population  over  four  hundred  graduates  from  colleges  and 
other  educational  institutions ;  it  has  furnished  the  world  with  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  ministers,  eighty-four  ministers'  wives,  ten  missionaries,  twenty-five 
judges,  one  hundred  and  two  lawyers,  ninety-five  physicians,  seven  college  presi- 
dents, thirty  professors,  sixty-four  other  educators,  twenty-four  editors,  six 
historians,  twenty-four  authors,  two  governors,  and  thirty  other  State  officers, 
twenty-five  members  of  the  State  General  Court,  as  the  Legislature  is  styled,  two 
generals,  six  colonels,  thirteen  other  army  officers,  and  thirty-eight  officers  of 
the  United  States,  among  them  a  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  two  Foreign  Ministers, 
a  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  five  Senators  of  the  United  States,  eight 
members  of  Congress  and  one  President.  If  a  territory  six  miles  square,  under 
favorable  conditions,  can  make  such  a  record,  what  may  we  not  hopefully  expect 
from  a  territory  containing  fifty-five  thousand  square  miles,  all  of  it  similarly 
peopled,  and  with  conditions  more  favorable  than  Massachusetts  ever  enjoyed  or 
Ohio  ever  possessed  ? 

"  'Know  thyself,'  said  the  Greek  philosopher.     'Know  thine  opportunity'  has 
become  a  companion  and  equally  important  maxim. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  419 

"When  you  go  home  tonight  tell  the  children  that  the  world  is  big  and 
constantly  expanding ;  that  this  day's  experience  has  broadened  your  vision ;  that 
life  had  become  more  real  and  hope  more  ardent ;  and  that  both  you  and  the  world, 
and  especially  the  States,  expect  something  of  them.  Wake  the  boy  in  the  night, 
break  in  upon  his  dreams  with  stories  of  hopeful  possibilities ;  watch  the  fire 
kindle  in  his  eye ;  let  him  dream  again  of  greater  things,  of  broader  expanses, 
of  higher  altitudes,  of  noble  achievements.  Neglect  neither  seed  time  nor  harvest ; 
watch  the  growing  and  maturing  crops ;  succor  and  protect  both  flocks  and  herds ; 
zealously  guard  the  interests  of  the  shop  and  the  store  and  the  office ;  but,  above 
all,  look  well  to  the  youth  of  Iowa,  and  to  all  things  that  shall  conserve  the 
generation  whose  footsteps  crowd  the  threshold  of  the  world's  activities." 

PRESIDENT  WATTLES'   WELCOME 

"When  I  received  the  invitation  from  the  Iowa  Commission  to  make  an 
address  on  this  occasion,  I  at  once  realized  my  inability  within  the  limited  time 
at  my  disposal  to  express  in  a  fitting  manner  even  my  own  sentiments  regarding 
a  State  among  whose  inhabitants  twenty-five  years  of  my  life  had  been  spent,  of 
a  State  in  whose  public  schools  and  colleges  I  received  my  education,  and  to 
whose  magnificent  advantages  and  opportunities  I  am  indebted  for  whatever 
business  success  I  may  have  attained.  With  apologies  for  apparent  disloyalty  to 
my  adopted  State  of  Nebraska,  I  say,  without  fear  of  successful  contradiction, 
that  Iowa  is  the  best  agricultural  State  in  the  Union.  There  is  a  smaller  per- 
centage of  untillable  land  in  this  State  than  is  found  in  any  other  equal  body  of 
land  in  the  world.  The  State  has  less  illiteracy,  more  school-houses  and  churches, 
and  a  fewer  number  of  criminals  in  proportion  to  population  than  any  other  State 
in  the  Union.  It  has  a  better  code  of  laws,  a  more  industrious,  frugal  and  prosper- 
ous population ;  its  wealth  is  more  evenly  distributed  among  its  inhabitants,  its 
climate  is  more  healthy,  and  its  people  more  contented  and  happy  than  the 
average  State  of  this  country  or  in  any  other  State  or  territory  of  like  extent  in 
any  other  country  in  the  world. 

"These  may  seem  extravagant  statements,  but  they  are  subject  to  verification 
by  facts  and  figures.  The  question  may  be  asked,  why  should  this  be  true.  The 
answer  is  plain  and  in  perfect  accord  with  the  philosophy  and  history  of  all  past 
ages.  Agriculture  is  the  source  of  all  wealth ;  it  breeds  contentment,  virtue  and 
happiness.  'From  the  farms  comes  not  only  the  bread  but  the  virtue  of  this 
nation.'  The  principal  avocation  of  the  inhabitants  of  Iowa  is  farming.  There 
are  no  large  metropolitan  cities  to  corrupt  the  morals  and  excite  the  greed  of  its 
inhabitants.  There  are  no  mines  of  gold  and  silver  to  attract  and  disappoint  its 
people.  It  is  true  that  a  large  area  of  the  State  is  underlaid  with  rich  deposits 
of  coal,  but  beyond  this  its  mineral  wealth  is  confined  to  small  districts  where 
lead  and  zinc  are  found.  The  State  lies  within  that  temperate  belt  of  latitude 
along  which  the  progress,  intelligence,  wealth  and  energy  of  the  world  are  most 
abundantly  found.  Neither  the  long  hot  summers  of  the  southern  climes  nor  the 


420 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


cold  rigorous  winters  of  the  Northern  States  enervates  its  inhabitants.  The  soil 
is  rich  and  productive,  cereals  and  fruits  mature  alike  in  abundance.  All  of  the 
elements  that  produce  happiness,  contentment  and  prosperity  combine  and  conspire 
to  make  its  inhabitants  intelligent,  prosperous  and  contented. 

"But,  with  all  its  natural  advantages,  a  large  majority  of  its  inhabitants  have 
earned  for  themselves  from  its  rich  resources  the  competency  they  now  enjoy.  It 
is  truly  said  'there  is  no  excellence  without  labor,'  and  but  for  the  labor,  hardships 
and  privations  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  great  commonwealth,  I  doubt  if  they  or 
their  descendants  would  today  occupy  the  high  places  in  the  business  world 
which  they  have  attained.  The  early  pioneers  were  all  poor,  and  but  few  of  the 
later  settlers  had  more  than  a  few  dollars  with  which  to  begin  life.  The  privations 
of  those  who  first  entered  the  lands  in  the  center  of  the  State,  purchased  of  the 
Black  Hawk  Indians,  were  sufficient  to  develop  the  energy  and  inspire  that 
determined  effort  which  always  brings  success.  In  the  fifties,  when  no  railroad 

had  penetrated  the  State,  when  wheat 
was  hauled  two  hundred  miles  by 
wagon  and  sold  at  forty  cents  per 
bushel,  when  farm  produce  for  want  of 
a  market  was  worthless,-  with  the  fear 
of  the  Indian  massacre  and  the  ever- 
present  dread  of  sickness  and  want  on 
the  frontier,  far  away  from  medical 
or  neighborly  aid,  their  trials  were 
supreme.  Surrounded  with  perplex- 
ities and  almost  overcome  by  obstacles, 
which  to  the  present  generation  would 
seem  insurmountable,  with  no  roads 
and  no  bridges,  in  the  solitude  and 
loneliness  and  amid  the  awful  stillness  which  pervades  a  new  land  like  this,  these 
pioneers  learned  lessons  of  frugality,  economy  and  a  self-reliance  which  insured 
for  them  and  their  descendants  success  and  prosperity,  and  an  appreciation  of 
the  comforts  and  conveniences  which  came  later  with  advanced  civilization.  Later 
immigrants,  who  came  into  the  State  with  such  a  flood  during  the  sixties  imme- 
diately after  the  great  Rebellion,  suffered  privations  little  less  severe  than  those 
endured  by  the  earlier  pioneers. 

"As  a  boy  whose  earlier  years  had  been  spent  in  populous  communities,  I  well 
remember  the  solitude  of  those  prairies  extending  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach 
with  no  sign  of  life,  with  their  billows  of  grass  rolling  like  the  great  waves  of  the 
sea.  I  can  picture  in  memory  the  illumination  of  the  heavens  in  autumn,  when 
great  prairie  fires  swept  with  terrible  conflagration  the  broad  expanse  of  unoccu- 
pied lands,  and  lighted  the  skies  with  fiery  tongues  which  seemed  to  portend 
destruction  of  the  settlements  they  surrounded.  In  many  instances  in  the  early 
days  these  prairie  fires  swept  with  terrible  velocity  through  fields  of  ripening 
corn  and  laid  waste  the  crops  and  buildings,  and  sometimes  consumed  the  entire 


Iowa  Building 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  421 

possessions  of  the  hapless  settler  who  was  exposed  to  their  grand  and  destructive 
holocaust.  I  can  well  remember  when  these  prairies  were  thought  to  be  worthless, 
when  the  only  settlements  were  along  the  wooded  streams,  and  when  it  was  said 
that  man  could  not  live  through  the  rigorous  storms  that  blew  with  such  velocity 
with  nothing  to  break  their  force  across  these  plains  in  winter,  and  when  the 
first  man  ventured  out  from  the  shelter  of  the  woods  to  make  his  home  on  the 
open  prairie  he  was  thought  to  be  insane.  How  glad  the  hearts  of  those  settlers 
to  hear  the  first  screech  of  the  locomotive,  and  the  sound  of  the  approach  of  the 
first  railway  train.  Eacfi  additional  evidence  of  civilization  was  appreciated 
beyond  the  power  of  the  imagination  of  those  who  have  never  known  want  of  the 
present  advantages  at  our  doors. 

"It  was  this  school  in  these  early  days  which  reared  within  the  State  of  Iowa 
a  self-reliant,  industrious  and  frugal  population,  which  has  given  caste  to  all  subse- 
quent settlement.  These  early  settlers  and  their  descendants  own  their  homes 
today,  and  are  surrounded  by  many  of  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  life. 
They  are  happy  in  the  comparison  of  their  changed  conditions.  They  have  won 
for  themselves  by  their  individual  efforts  the  reward  which  follows  honest  toil. 
I  have  known  hundreds,  yes,  thousands,  of  the  present  prosperous  heads  of 
families  in  Iowa  who  came  to  the  State  in  poverty,  and  who  today  are  free  from 
debt  and  own  their  rich,  well  stocked  and  productive  farms.  Who  can  wonder 
that  such  a  population,  surrounded  as  they  are  with  all  the  conveniences  of  civiliza- 
tion, should  be  intelligent,  prosperous  and  happy? 

"Ever  ready  to  promote  the  interests  of  their  State  by  advertising  its 
resources,  Iowa  was  the  first  through  her  Legislature  to  approve  of  this  Exposi- 
tion, and  the  first  State  in  the  Union  to  make  an  appropriation  for  a  State  exhibit 
here.  She  stands  among  the  first  in  the  beauty  and  convenience  of  her  building 
and  the  variety  and  extent  of  her  exhibit.  It  is  with  pride  and  pleasure  that  I 
welcome  her  citizens  here  today.  This  Exposition  is  the  crowning  achievement 
of  the  people  of  the  West ;  it  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  their  progress ;  it 
serves  notice  to  all  the  world  that  the  West  .is  no  longer  lacking  in  population, 
wealth  and  enterprise,  and  it  reveals  a  vision  of  future  development  which  will 
eclipse  its  phenomenal  past. 

"When  we  consider  the  wonderful  strides  that  have  been  made  in  all  of  the 
States  and  territories  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  during  the  short  space  of 
half  a  century ;  when  we  compute  the  wealth  that  has  been  accumulated ;  when  we 
realize  that  eighty  thousand  miles  of  railroad  have  been  constructed,  great  cities 
built  and  a  commerce  double  that  of  Spain  and  Portugal  established ;  when  we 
know  and  realize  that  in  no  other  part  of  the  world  such  opportunities  for  the 
investor  and  home-seeker  are  offered  as  can  be  found  within  this  territory,  we 
can  picture  in  our  imagination  its  future  greatness  and  power.  When  I  think 
of  the  wonderful  changes  that  have  been  wrought  within  the  State  of  Iowa  within 
the  past  thirty  years,  how  the  Redmen  have  been  driven  from  their  grounds  to 
make  room  for  the  rich  farms  and  cities  which  now  support  a  population  of  more 
than  two  million  people,  of  how  schools  and  colleges  have  been  built,  public 


422  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

institutions  for  the  promotion  of  education,  morality,  Christianity  and  good 
government  established,  and  how  out  of  the  chaos  and  stillness  of  the  wilderness 
such  a  commonwealth  has  grown  within  the  memory  of  even  the  young  men  of 
this  generation,  I  almost  believe  it  must  be  the  dawn  of  the  millenium,  when 
happiness,  prosperity  and  contentment,  such  as  the  world  has  never  known,  is  to 
permeate  the  lives  of  all  men.  When  I  stand  and  view  the  magnificence  and 
wealth  of  the  West  displayed  at  this  Exposition,  I  almost  feel  like  the  rural  farmer, 
who,  on  entering  these  grounds  a  short  time  ago  exclaimed,  'If  heaven  is  only  as 
beautiful  I  shall  be  satisfied.' 

"To  all  the  beauties  of  these  grounds  and  the  pleasures  to  be  found  in  viewing 
the  wonderful  resources  displayed  in  these  buildings,  I  invite  the  visitors  from 
Iowa  to  participate.  This  Exposition  is  yours  as  well  as  ours,  you  are  equal 
partners  in  the  enterprise,  and  from  its  success,  now  happily  insured,  you  may 
learn  many  lessons  of  value  for  the  future.  It  not  only  illustrates  the  wealth  and 
progress  of  a  great  people,  but  it  points  to  future  possibilities  undreamed  of  before. 
To  the  homeless  millions  of  less  favored  climes  it  is  a  messenger  of  promise ;  to  the 
weary  mariner  whose  fortunes  have  been  wrecked  on  the  seas  of  adversity  it  is  a 
harbinger  of  hope ;  it  opens  new  fields  to  the  inventor,  inspires  the  ambition  of  the 
genius,  incites  the  emulation  of  States  and  stands  the  crowning  glory  in  the  history 
of  the  West." 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  ROBERT  G.  COUSINS,  CONGRESSMAN 

"The  State  of  Iowa  accepts  with  fraternal  gladness  the  hospitable  hand  of 
greeting  extended  by  Nebraska  and  our  other  sister  States  in  this  great  Empire 
of  the  pioneers,  and  salutes  with  reverent  patriotism  the  Federal  Government  of 
the  United  States. 

"In  the  words  of  that  original  and  poetic  genius,  'Ironquill,'  who  has  voiced 
so  well  the  thought  and  feelmgs  of  our  west  land,  and  who  has  made  the  name  of 
Kansas  known  forever  in  the  world  of  letters : 

"States  are  not  great, 
Except  as  men  may  make  them. 
Men  are  not  great,  except  they  do  and  dare. 

*        *        *        * 

All  merit  comes  from  braving  the  unequal ; 
All  glory  comes  from  daring  to  begin. 

"I  have  asked  five  of  the  ablest  and  the  most  noted  Americans  what  they 
regard  as  the  chief  thing  or  leading  feature  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  region,  and 
they  have  invariably  answered,  'Its  men  and  women.'  The  other  day  I  met  one 
of  the  oldest  settlers  of  Eastern  Iowa — one  of  those  original,  rugged  characters 
whose  wit  and  wisdom  has  lightened  the  settlers'  hearts  and  homes  for  many  ,\ 
toilsome  year — one  of  those  interesting  characters  who  never  bores  you,  and 
whom  one  always  likes  to  meet — a  man  whose  head  is  silvered  and  whose 
countenance  is  kind — and  I  asked  him  what  he  regarded  as  the  principal  feature 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


423 


of  our  Trans-Mississippi  country,  and  he  replied :  'Well,  I'm  no  scholar,  but  I've 
been  round  here  nigh  onto  sixty  years  and  I  reckon  'bout  the  most  important 
thing  is  the  folks  and  the  farms.' 

"While  you  rest  here  a  little  while  in  this  splendid  Auditorium,  before  going 
to  view  the  wonders  and  the  beauties  of  the  Exposition  (and  incidentally  the 
Midway)  I  shall  speak  briefly  of  the  folks  and  farms  of  my  native  State  of  Iowa 
and  of  this  Empire  of  the  pioneers.  In  doing  so,  I  have  some  hesitation,  realizing 
as  I  do  that  there  are  doubtless  those  in  this  vast 
audience  who  were  contemporaries  with  my  grand- 
fathers in  the  early  settlement  of  Iowa  away  back 
in  the  thirties,  and  who  are  far  better  qualified  to 
tell  the  tale  of  toil  and  triumph  which  is  the  glory 
and  the  honor  of  our  birthland.  In  such  a  dis- 
cussion I  feel  as  though  I  were  standing  on  the 
bank  of  a  magnificent  stream  in  the  hearing  of 
patriarchs  and  pilgrims  who  have  traveled  from  its 
source.  I  can  look  at  its  swift  flowing  current  and 
think  of  the  scenes  by  which  it  has  swept  in  its 
lonely  way  from  the  wilds  where  it  started ;  I  can 
remember  with  you  the  roaming  redman  who 
watched  with  jealous  eye  the  coming  of  this  Anglo- 
Saxon  stream  of  civilization ;  I  can  marvel  with 
you  at  the  vastness  of  the  products  of  its  soil, 
watered  with  the  tears  of  happiness  and  toil ;  I  can  realize  with  you  the  rugged- 
ness  and  patience  of  its  manhood  and  the  strength  and  gentleness  of  its 
womanhood,  but  of  its  landscape  farther  up,  its  tributaries  and  its  cabins,  its 
haunts  and  huts  and  wonders,  its  picturesqueness  of  primeval  life,  the  story 
is  far  better  told  by  him  whose  tired  feet  have  trudged  along  the  way,  whose 
hands  have  toiled  and  whose  hair  has  turned  to  gray. 

"Iowa  became  a  separate  territory,  with  the  capital  at  Burlington,  in  1838,  and 
was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1846,  and  has  been  in  it  ever  since.  It  makes 
little  difference  whether  it  was  first  settled  by  the  whites  at  Dubuque  for  mining 
purposes  in  1788,  or  for  trading  purposes  at  Montrose  in  1799,  or  opposite 
Prairie  du  Chien  in  1804  or  5,  or  in  Lee  County  at  Sandusky  in  1820,  or  on  the 
lower  rapids,  at  what  is  now  known  as  Nashville,  in  1829 ;  or  whether  the  first 
settlements  for  general  purposes  were  made  at  Burlington  and  Davenport  in  1832. 
The  main  facts  are  that  it  was  well  settled — not  by  dyspeptic  tourists,  nor  by 
invalids  who  had  come  West  out  of  curiosity,  nor  by  climate-seeking  dilettanti 
with  two  servants  and  one  lung — but  by  the  best  bone  and  sinew  of  the  Middle 
States,  New  England  and  the  Old  World.  I  do  not  know  that  there  were  any 
dukes,  or  lords,  or  marquises  or  duchesses,  but  there  were  Dutch  and  Irish, 
and  Scotch  and  Scotch-Irish,  and  English  and  Americans,  and  they  had  home 
rule  right  from  the  start — at  least  they  had  in  the  first  school  which  I  attended. 
The  men  and  women  who  settled  the  Hawkeye  State  were  not  those  who  expected 


Robert  G.  Cousins 
Member  of  Congress 


424  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

to  go  back  'in  the  fall'  or  as  soon  as  they  could  prove  up  their  claims.  They 
were  'stayers.'  They  were  not  men  to  be  discouraged  by  winter  or  by  work. 
They  were  men  who  knew  that  nobody  ever  amounted  to  much  unless  he  had  to. 
Most  of  them  began  simply  with  the  capital  of  honesty,  good  health  and  their 
inherent  qualities  of  character.  They  built  their  cabins  in  the  clearings,  and, 
watching  the  smoke  curl  up  in  the  great  wide  sky,  felt  just  as  patriotic  for  their 
humble  rustic  homes  as  e'er  did  princes  for  their  castles,  or  millionaires  for 
mansions  grand. 

"To  build  a  home  is  a  great  thing.  It  doesn't  matter  so  much  about  the 
dimensions.  'Kings  have  lived  in  cottages  and  pygmies  dwelt  in  palaces/  but  the 
walls  of  a  home  always  add  something  to  inherent  character.  In  the  formation 
of  character  there  are  always  two  elements,  the  inherent  and  the  adventitious — 
that  which  we  bring  with  us  into  the  world  and  that  which  our  surroundings 
give  us.  Somebody  said,  'There  is  only  a  small  portion  of  the  earth  that  produces 
splendid  people.'  Our  pioneers  got  into  a  good  place.  They  had  left  doubt  sitting 
on  a  boulder  in  the  East  and  packed  their  things  and  started  for  the  West.  Rivers 
had  to  be  forded,  trees  to  be  felled ;  cabins  had  to  be  built — the  rifle  must  be  kept 
loaded — so  much  the  better,  there  was  self-reliance.  Corn  and  coffee  had  to  be 
ground,  and  on  the  same  mill — so  much  the  better,  there  was  ingenuity.  Teeth 
had  to  be  filled,  and  there  was  no  painless  dentistry.  Disease  and  injury  must  be 
dealt  with,  and  the  doctor  fifty  miles  away.  Life  must  be  lightened,  lonely  hearts 
must  be  cheered,  and  the  old  friends  and  comrades  far  back  in  the  States  or 
maybe  away  in  the  Fatherland,  and  the  cheering  letter  tarrying  with  the  belated 
stage  coach — hold  fast,  thou  sturdy  denizen  and  gentle  help-mate  of  the  rich  and 
wondrous  Empire,  infinite  goodness  guards  thee  and  the  fertile  fields  are  ready  to 
reward. 

"Ah,  pampered  people  of  the  later  generations,  when  you  imagine  modern 
hardships,  think  of  the  courage  and  the  trials  and  the  ingenuity  of  pioneers  when 
there  were  no  conveniences  but  the  forest  and  the  axe,  the  wide  rolling  prairie  and 
the  ox  team,  the  great  blue  sky,  the  unsolved  future  and  the  annual  ague.  Com- 
plain of  markets  in  these  modern  times  and  then  think  of  your  grandmother 
when  she  was  a  blooming  bride  listening  through  the  toilsome  days  and  anxious 
nights  for  the  wagon  bringing  home  the  husband  from  a  distant  market  with  calico 
and  jeans  purchased  with  dressed  pork,  sold  one  dollar  and  a  half  a  hundred, 
and  maybe  bringing  home  a  little  money,  worth  far  less  per  yard  than  either 
calico  or  jeans.  Maybe  it  was  all  for  the  best ;  human  character  was  being  formed 
for  the  development  of  a  great  and  loyal  and  progressive  State  to  shine  forever 
among  the  stars  of  the  Federal  Union. 

"Probably  the  purest  time  in  the  history  of  government  and  men  is  when 
they  are  painfully  intent  upon  the  labor  of  their  development  and  defense.  Most 
all  greatness  and  nearly  every  original  idea  has  come  out  of  some  kind  of  trouble. 
Whoever  gets  to  greatness  or  success  without  meeting  opposition  goes  in  an 
air  castle.  Most  of  the  flowers  of  genius  have  bloomed  from  bleeding  hearts. 
There  never  was  a  strong  and  handsome  face  without  some  little  line  of  care. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  425 

And  so  every  circumstance  of  those  early  toilsome  lives,  every  tedious  trial, 
every  tear,  every  home  whose  roof  kept  out  the  storm  and  whose  walls  con- 
tained their  sorrows  and  their  joys ;  all  the  gifts  of  a  generous  soil  in  return  for 
careful  cultivation ;  every  irritating  inconvenience,  which  finally  drove  some 
questioning  mind  to  ponder  out  improvements — all  such  experiences  are  as  certain 
in  their  formation  and  development  of  character  and  mind  as  are  inherent  qualities 
that  accompany  the  origin  and  mystery  of  life. 

"Somewhere  I  have  seen  an  etching  of  a  face  that  was  called  'Experience,' 
and  I  have  never  forgotten  it — one  never  does  forget  a  face  that  has  ideas  in  it. 
This  one  was  the  illustrated  history  of  a  life.  There  was  youth,  with  all  its  hope, 
marked  here  and  there  with  all  the  lines  of  strife  and  care  and  victory,  which 
middle  life  had  placed  upon  it.  And  there  was  the  mystic  touch  of  later  years, 
like  Autumn's  pencil  work  in  nature,  all  shaded  with  the  mellow  haze  of  time — 
a  kind  of  soft  and  silvery  veil  with  which  deft  nature  covers  up  her  glory — a 
picture  penciled  by  an  artist  with  an  understanding  mind,  who  knew  his  subject 
had  thought  as  he  had  thought,  felt  as  he  had  felt,  dreamed  as  he  had  dreamed — 
a  kind  of  picture  that  one  sees  so  very,  very  seldom,  only  as  often  as  one  finds 
genius — the  divine — and  I  thought,  there  is  the  typical  picture  of  a  pioneer,  and 
well  named  'Experience.' 

"Civil  government  in  Iowa  proceeded  with  its  rapid  settlement.  The  pioneer 
became  a  model  citizen.  He  knew  the  necessity  for  the  laws  that  were  enacted. 
He  did  not  feel  oppressed  by  government.  He  had  experienced  the  losses  of 
robbery  and  larceny,  and  knew  something  of  the  embarrassment  and  inconvenience 
of  being  scalped.  There  was  no  hysteria  about  trusts  and  combines,  because 
they  had  practiced  combinations  themselves  for  mutual  protection.  If  anyone 
would  learn  the  true  genius  and  exemplification  and  philosophy  of  self-govern- 
ment, government  of  and  for  and  by  the  people,  let  him  study  the  records  of 
pioneer  life  and  institutional  beginnings  and  the  evolution  of  their  laws.  It 
would  be  worth  our  while  on  some  suitable  occasion,  when  time  permitted,  to 
talk  over  the  interesting  incidents  attending  the  administration  of  justice  in  the 
early  days  of  Iowa,  incident  of  its  territorial  legislatures,  the  birth  and  growth 
of  its  statehood  and  the  characters  of  its  officials.  But  the  greatness  of  our  State 
is  not  contained  in  any  name.  Its  official  history  is  the  exponent  of  its  industrial 
life  and  character.  Its  greatness  is  the  sum  total  of  its  citizenship.  In  order  to  be 
just,  John  Jones,  the  average  citizen,  must  be  mentioned  along  with  our  most 
illustrious  officials.  Somebody  said  that  the  history  of  a  nation  is  the  history 
of  its  great  men,  but  there  is  an  unwritten  history  which  that  averment  overlooks. 
The  growth  of  a  State  is  the  progress  of  its  average  citizen.  The  credit  of  a 
commonwealth  is  the  thrift  of  its  John  Jones  and  William  Smith,  and  the 
character,  prosperity  and  patriotism  of  the  individual  citizen  is  the  history  of  Iowa. 

"The  population  of  ninety-seven  thousand  which  she  had  when  admitted  into 
the  Union  had  increased  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty  four  thousand  six  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  Of  these,  about  seventy  thousand, 
almost  one-tenth  of  the  population,  were  in  the  war —  a  number  equal  to  nearly 


426  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

one-half  the  voters  of  the  State.  Who  made  the  history  of  Iowa  during  that 
great  struggle  of  our  nation's  life?  John  Jones,  the  average  citizen,  whether 
he  carried  a  musket  helping  to  put  up  the  scattered  stars  of  State  back 
into  the  constellation  of  the  Union,  or  whether  he  toiled  from  early  dawn  to 
lingering  twilight  in  the  fields  or  in  the  shop.  The  best  civilization  is  that  which 
maintains  the  highest  standard  of  life  for  its  average  citizen. 

"Since  the  Civil  War,  the  State  of  Iowa  has  increased  in  population  to 
almost  two  million  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  of  people,  and  most 
of  the  time  had  the  least  illiteracy  of  any  State  in  the  Union.  Doubtless  for  that 
we  are  indebted  to  many  of  the  older  States,  whose  enterprising  and  courageous 
citizens  constitute  so  large  a  portion  of  our  population.  With  but  half  a  century 
of  statehood,  and  with  an  area  of  about  fifty-five  thousand  four  hundred  seventy 
square  miles,  the  State  of  Iowa  produces  the  greatest  quantity  of  cereals  of 
any  State  in  the  Union.  As  long  ago  as  the  last  Federal  census,  taken  in  1890, 
it  produced  more  corn,  more  oats,  more  beef,  more  pork  than  any  other  State 
in  the  Union.  Not  long  since  I  was  introduced  to  a  gentleman  from  New  York 
City.  He  said  :  'Oh,  from  Iowa — ah — let  me  see,  that's  out — ah — you  see,  I'm 
not  very  well  posted  on  the  geography  of  the  West.'  'Yes,'  I  said,  'it's  out 
there  just  across  the  Mississippi  River.  You  can  leave  New  York  about  noon 
and  get  your  supper  in  Iowa  the  next  evening.  It  might  be  worth  your  while 
to  look  it  up.  It's  the  State  which  produces  more  of  the  things  which  people 
eat  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  It  has  more  miles  of  railroad  than  your 
State  of  New  York,  more  than  Mexico,  more  than  Brazil  and  more  than  all 
the  New  England  States  combined.' 

"The  value  of  Iowa's  agricultural  products  and  livestock,  in  round  numbers 
for  the  year  1892,  was  four  hundred  and  seven  million  dollars,  to  say  nothing 
of  her  other  great  and  various  industries  and  enterprises.  She  produced  that 
year  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  million  pounds  of  the  best  butter  on  earth,  of 
the  value  of  thirty-two  million  dollars.  The  Hawkeye  butter  ladle  has  achieved 
a  cunning  that  challenges  all  Columbia.  The  Iowa  cow  has  slowly  and  painfully, 
yet  gradually  and  grandly,  worked  her  way  upward  to  a  shining  eminence  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world.  The  State  of  Iowa  has  on  her  soil  today,  if  nothing  ill  befalls 
it,  ninety  million  dollars  worth  of  corn.  The  permanent  value  of  land  is  estimated 
by  its  corn-producing  qualities.  Of  all  the  products  of  the  earth,  corn  is  king, 
and  it  reigns  in  Iowa. 

"Industry  and  nature  have  made  the  State  of  Iowa  a  creditor.  Her  soil 
has  always  been  solvent,  and  her  system  of  farming  does  not  tend  to  pauperize 
it.  She  is  a  constant  seller,  and  therefore  wants  the  evidence  of  the  transaction 
to  be  unimpeachable.  She  has  more  school  teachers  than  any  other  State  except 
the  Empire  State,  and  only  three  and  six-tenths  per  cent  of  her  population  are 
illiterate.  The  State  of  Iowa  has  yielded  the  grandest  dividends  on  her  educational 
investments.  She  has  become  illustrious  on  account  of  her  enlightenment.  She 
has  progressed  further  from  'primitive  indifferent  tissue'  than  the  land  even  of 
Darwin  himself,  and  in  her  escape  from  protoplasm  and  prejudice  she  is  practically 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  427 

out  of  danger.  Marked  out  in  the  beginning  by  the  hand  of  God,  bounded  on  the 
east  and  west  by  the  two  great  rivers  of  the  continent,  purified  and  stimulated 
by  the  snows  of  winter,  blessed  with  copious  rainfall  in  the  growing  season,  with 
generous  soil  and  stately  forests  interspersed,  no  wonder  that  the  dusky  aborigines 
exclaimed,  when  they  crossed  the  'Father  of  Waters,'  'Iowa!  This  is  the  place.' 
Not  only  did  the  red  man  give  our  State  its  beautiful  and  poetic  name,  but 
Indian  nomenclature  runs  like  a  romance  throughout  the  counties  and  com- 
munities. What  infinite  meaning,  what  tokens  of  joy  and  sadness,  of  triumph 
and  of  tears,  of  valor  and  of  vanquishment,  of  life  and  love  and  song  there  may 
be  in  these  weird,  strange  words  that  name  today  so  many  of  our  towns  and 
streams  and  counties — Allamakee,  Chickasaw,  Dakota  City,  Sioux,  Pocahontas, 
Winneshiek,  Keosauqua,  Sac,  Winnebago,  Tama,  Nodawa,  Compeine,  Charlton, 
Comanche,  Cherokee,  Waukon,  Muchakinock,  Washta,  Monona,  Waupeton, 
Onawa,  Keota,  Waudina,  loka,  Ottumwa,  Oneska,  Waucoma,  Nishnabotna, 
Keokuk,  Decorah,  Wapello,  Muscatine,  Maquoketa,  Mahaska,  Ocheyeden,  Missis- 
sippi, Appanoose,  Missouri,  Ouasqueton,  Anamosa,  Poweshiek,  Pottawattamie, 
Osceola,  Oskaloosa,  Wapsipinicon. 

"Ere  long  some  westland  genius,  moved  by  the  mystic  inspiration  of  the 
rich  and  wondrous  heritage  of  Iowa  nativity,  may  sing  the  song  of  our  legends 
and  traditions,  may  voice  in  verse  the  wondrous  story  of  his  illustrious  State. 
Maybe  somewhere  among  the  humble  homes  where  blood  and  bone  and  brain 
grow  pure  and  strong;  where  simple  food  and  frugal  ways  feeds  wondering 
minds  and  drive  them  craving  into  nature's  secrets  and  her  songs — somewhere 
along  the  settler's  pathway  or  by  the  Indian  trail  where  now  the  country  church- 
yards, grown  with  uncut  grasses,  hide  the  forms  of  sturdy  ancestors  sleeping  all 
in  peaceful  ignorance  of  wayward  sons  or  wondrous  progeny — somewhere  where 
rising  sun  beholds  the  peasantry  at  early  toil  and  leaves  them  in  the  mystic 
twilight  ere  their  tasks  are  done,  where  odors  of  the  corn  and  new-mown  hay 
and  vine-clad  hedges,  by  the  shadowy  roadside,  linger  long  into  the  night-time 
as  a  sweet  and  sacred  balm  for  tired  hearts — somewhere,  sometime,  the  song 
of  Iowa  shall  rise  and  live,  and  it  will  not  omit  the  thought  of  that  gifted  son 
who  said :  'Iowa :  the  affections  of  her  people,  like  the  rivers  of  her  borders, 
flow  to  an  inseparable  union.' 

"And  now,  my  fellow-citizens,  a  word  about  our  great  Trans-Mississippi 
region — the  empire  of  the  pioneers — and  of  our  country  and  its  future. 

"We  have  on  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  River  an  area  of  two  million  one 
hundred  forty-three  thousand  one  hundred  fifty-five  square  miles  of  land,  two 
and  a  quarter  times  the  area  east  of  the  Mississippi.  You  could  put  England, 
Ireland,  Scotland,  the  German  Empire,  France,  Austria,  Hungary,  Italy,  Spain 
and  all  of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  into  this  Trans-Mississippi 
territory  without  touching  California  or  Hawaii,  and  Admiral  Dewey  would  still 
have  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Manila,  with  rope  enough  to  lasso  and  hang  the 
last  enemv  of  the  United  States  and  civilization. 


428  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"The  population  east  of  the  Mississippi  in  1890  was  forty-five  million  nine 
hundred  seventy-nine  thousand  seven  hundred  fifty-four,  having  increased  18 
per  cent  in  the  ten  preceding  years.  The  population  west  of  the  Mississippi  in 
1890  was  sixteen  million  six  hundred  forty-two  thousand  four  hundred  ninety- 
six,  an  increase  of  93  per  cent  in  the  preceding  decade.  The  wealth  per  capita 
east  of  the  Mississippi  increased  22.75  Per  cent  from  1880  to  1890,  and  increased 
69.5  per  cent  west  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  same  decade. 

"The  State  of  Minnesota  alone  produces  nearly  one-eighth  of  the  flour  of 
the  United  States,  and  Texas  furnishes  one-fifth  of  the  cotton ;  Iowa,  Kansas, 
Nebraska  and  Missouri  produce  nearly  half  of  the  entire  corn  product  of  the 
country,  over  one-fourth  of  the  beef  and  more  than  one-third  of  the  pork.  No 
other  territory  in  the  world  of  equal  area  produces  so  much  of  the  substantial 
food  of  life. 

"Being  a  perpetual  creditor,  on  account  of  its  productions,  the  Western 
region  and  all  its  States  have  a  common  interest  in  the  largest  possible  employ- 
ment of  people  in  other  avocations  than  producing  food,  because  employment  not 
only  creates  appetite,  but  likewise  the  financial  ability  to  satisfy  it.  The 
Western  region  and  its  many  States  also  have  a  common  interest  in  honesty. 
Having  given  their  labor  for  a  large  increase  in  wealth  per  capita — the  largest 
of  any  section  of  the  country — they  are  naturally  interested  in  maintaining  it. 
No  one  has  a  greater  interest  in  the  vested  value  of  a  dollar  than  he  who  has 
exchanged  his  labor  and  his  products  for  it,  or  who  has  a  constant  surplus  to  be 
sold  and  registers  as  accumulated  wealth.  You  labor  today  and  accumulate 
thereby.  You  may  want  to  rest  tomorrow.  Your  accumulation  should  be  secure. 
You  have  been  selling  all  these  years.  You  may  wish  to  buy  or  build  tomorrow. 
The  credit  registered  by  your  toil,  frugality  and  prudence  should  be  forever 
sacred.  The  West  should  look  to  the  future  and  think  not  only  of  its  gains 
in  one  decade,  but  of  the  balance  that  will  be  to  its  credit  in  a  hundred  years 
from  now.  Do  not  forget  that  the  world  must  eat,  and  that  mankind  is  multiplying 
by  the  millions,  and  that  the  Creator  is  not  making  any  more  land  on  this  planet. 
Hold  fast  to  the  heritage  which  God  and  the  pioneers  have  left  you,  and  to  the 
standard  of  integrity  and  value  by  which  it  was  earned.  Let  the  future  buy  from 
you  according  to  that  same  standard  by  which  you  have  bought,  and  by  which 
your  toil  is  measured  in  the  present. 

"No  one  can  foretell  a  limit  of  the  possibilities  of  this  great,  producing,  half- 
developed  region  for  the  future,  with  the  United  States  forging  to  the  front 
in  the  commerce  of  the  world,  claiming  its  harbors  and  its  coaling  stations  along 
the  lines  of  trade  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  and  realizing  more  than 
ever  before  that  it  is  a  joint  proprietor  with  the  older  nations  of  the  earth  in 
the  great  high  seas.  Doubtless  some  people  are  over-reckless  for  expansion,  and 
some  are  so  conservative  that  their  intellectual  estates  seem  almost  in  probate. 
Douglas  Harrold  used  to  say,  There  are  some  people  so  conservative  that  they 
can  never  appreciate  the  new  moon  out  of  regard  for  that  venerable  institution, 
the  old  one.'  And  Wendell  Phillips  added,  'Some  people  are  afraid  to  sweep  off 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  429 

the  cobwebs  for  fear  the  roof  will  come  down.'  But  there  is  one  thing  reason- 
ably certain  :  America  will  have  a  place  to  land  and  coal  her  ships  in  every  quarter 
of  the  globe.  There  has  been  the  age  of  marble  and  the  age  of  bronze ;  ours 
is  the  age  of  commerce  and  of  iron.  Commerce  will  not  stop;  it  undermines 
the  mountains,  lays  its  tables  underneath  the  billows  of  the  sea,  and  scorns  the 
fury  of  its  crests.  Commerce  is  a  greedy,  moiling,  tireless  spider,  catching  all 
the  world  in  a  web  of  iron,  and  it  will  weave  its  wires  wherever  there  is  life. 
It  has  found  the  Orient  and  the  Occident,  and  will  never  rest  until  it  ties  its 
cables  to  the  poles. 

"America  will  build  a  greater  navy,  and  will  build  the  Nicaragua  canal, 
and  her  merchant  ships  will  take  her  commerce  into  all  the  harbors  of  the  world, 
and  our  battleships  shall  protect  our  commerce  in  its  legitimate  and  rightful 
course.  The  American  flag  shall  be  visible  and  revered  away  from  home  as  it 
is  beloved  and  venerated  here,  and  under  it  a  free  people  shall  thrive  and  multiply 
in  peace. 

"If  one  were  to  write  a  prophetic  history  of  the  next  century  and  insist 
upon  it  with  any  degree  of  obstinacy,  he  would  doubtless  be  deemed  insane. 
If  Washington,  when  he  retired  from  public  life,  had  uttered  one-half  the  truth 
of  events  that  have  since  transpired,  even  Americans  would  have  said  that  the 
pressure  of  official  responsibility  had  rendered  the  Father  of  his  Country  a 
victim  of  dementia,  and  the  world  would  have  doubtless  pronounced  him  crazy. 
If  some  optimist  of  New  England  had  said  a  hundred  years  ago,  as  has  trans- 
pired and  been  declared  since  then,  that  in  the  nineteenth  century  science  would 
pierce  through  mountains  that  ancient  poetry  could  never  scale,  whisper  across 
the  ocean,  tame  the  lightning,  annihilate  space,  explode  superstition,  create  light, 
bottle  up  sound,  he  might  have  been  arrested  for  witchcraft.  If  at  the  time 
when  a  hundred  and  eighty  crimes  were  punishable  with  death  some  judge 
or  jurist  had  recognized  the  sunrise  of  civilization  and  had  declared  that  the 
time  would  soon  come  when  the  greatest  nation  of  the  earth  would  inflict  the 
death  penalty  for  only  two  offenses,  he  might  have  been  deposed  for  his  opinion. 
If  any  one  were  to  remind  you  now  of  one-half  century  that  is  gone  and  foretell 
one-half  the  century  to  come,  he  would  be  regarded  as  a  dangerous  man  and 
rickety,  and  it  would  be  used  against  him  in  the  next  campaign,  no  matter  on 
what  ticket  he  should  run.  The  fact  is  that  not  many  realize  the  rate  at  which 
the  world  is  traveling.  Time  is  so  noiseless  that  it  awakens  very  few.  The  Rip 
Van  Winkles  are  as  numerous  as  the  Smiths  and  Browns  and  Joneses.  While 
we  are  yet  shaking  hands  with  the  events  of  yesterday,  genius  taps  us  on  the 
shoulder  and  introduces  a  stranger  and  we  exclaim,  'What  imposter  is  this?' 
An  impossibility ;  an  event  of  the  future. 

''What  shall  be  the  events  of  the  coming  century?  Probably  with  whatever 
degree  of  certainty  we  are  able  to  comprehend  the  past  and  to  understand  the 
present,  with  that  degree  can  we  foretell  the  future.  Yesterday  and  today  are 
the  premises  of  a  syllogism  whose  conclusion  is  tomorrow.  I  believe  there  is  a 
good  reason  for  everything  that  happens  in  the  universe.  The  indications  are 


430  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

that  the  great  events  of  the  near  future  shall  be  in  the  line  of  commerce,  as  I 
have  already  indicated,  of  jurisprudence,  of  social  economy,  of  science  and  of  art. 
The  tendency  of  the  times  is  to  get  rid  of  long-established  humbugs.  The  wisdom 
of  the  past  shall  be  retained,  but  the  wings  of  progress  shall  not  be  burdened  by 
its  evils  and  stupidity.  So  long  as  toil  shall  bend  the  back  of  man  his  brain  shall 
question  science  for  its  mysteries,  and  so  long  as  mystery  remains  to  form  the 
boundary  line  of  knowledge  the  scientists  will  strive  and  climb  and  climb  and 
reach  beyond  those  bonds.  They  will  make  the  electric  current  turn  the  wheels 
of  all  the  world. 

"And  in  our  coming  century  there  will  be  tumults,  strife  and  riot,  but  there 
shall  be  no  ruin.  America  shall  be  ruled  by  law.  She  will  not  forget  the  lessons 
that  her  patriots  have  taught.  She  will  abide  by  the  Pilgrims'  covenant — the 
legally  expressed  will  of  the  majority. 

"And  in  the  future,  striving  and  contending,  with  all  the  ceaseless,  tireless 
energies,  in  that  stately  and  majestic  march  of  time  and  toil,  there  will  be  success 
and  failure,  thrift  and  slothfulness,  charity  and  meanness,  hope  and  doubt, 
happiness  and  misery.  And  some  time  it  will  lift  up  its  voice  and  America 
shall  hear  great  music — such  as  she  has  never  known  before — and  there  shall 
be  great  artists.  Some  one  has  said  that  America  is  too  busy  to  make  verses, 
too  serious  to  sing  songs ;  that  all  her  ideas  are  marshalled  up  in  battle  array  to 
solve  the  vital  questions  of  self-government,  and  that  all  her  jewels  are  wrought 
into  diadems  to  crown  the  kings  of  commerce  and  the  lords  of  science,  whilst 
poetry  is  swept  away  by  the  tide  of  activity  that  swells  through  every  artery  and 
vein  of  Columbia's  land.  And  all  that  has  been  very  true.  But  it  shall  not 
always  be  so.  We  shall  not  always  take  our  melodies  from  old  operas  nor 
our  designs  from  ancient  frescoes.  We  shall  not  always  dig  our  architecture 
from  the  ruins  of  the  past  nor  get  our  fiction  from  the  brains  of  dead  men. 
The  same  conditions  that  bred  the  genius  of  dead  Empires  shall  find  the  muses 
and  the  artists  for  Columbia  and  a  greater  glory  shall  await  them,  for  they 
shall  all  be  born  in  freedom. 

"By  and  by  some  millionaire,  tired  of  killing  pigs  and  packing  pork,  will 
see  something  beautiful  or  maybe  something  sad,  and  he  will  endow  an  institu- 
tion where  poverty  can  come  and  dream  and  mark  its  pain  and  thought  upon  the 
canvas  and  the  marble.  And,  then,  some  other  hoarder  of  the  millions  shall  grow 
weary  concerning  kerosene  and  corn,  and  he  will  hear  some  voice,  or  see  some  fair 
young  face  with  a  little  line  of  care  upon  its  arched  and  thoughtful  brow, 
and  he  will  add  his  charity  to  the  goodness  and  the  greatness  of  America  and 
he  will  say  to  genius,  'Come,  these  walls  shall  keep  the  winds  from  shriveling 
up  your  tender  wings  on  which  you  now  may  rise  and  soar,  and  out  of  all  your 
misery  that  is  past  make  harmonies  that  will  soften  all  the  sorrows  of  mankind, 
revive  the  melodies  that  have  been  dying  through  all  the  centuries  of  time 
with  the  pain  of  silence,  and  out  of  the  inspiration  that  may  come  to  you  write 
rhapsodies  that  will  lift  and  glorify  the  thoughts  and  minds  of  men  and  find 
the  very  throne  of  God.'  Emerson  declared  a  little  while  before  he  died :  'We 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  431 

think  our  civilization  near  its  meridian,  but  we  are  yet  only  at  the  cock  crow- 
ing and  the  morning  star.'  The  future  will  verify  Emerson.  The  greatest 
alliance  ever  projected  in  history  will  be  the  alliance  of  American  efforts  and 
American  interests.  Into  the  opening  gateway  of  the  twentieth  century,  hand 
in  hand,  shall  spring  our  king  of  commerce  and  queen  of  industry,  the  Sphinx- 
eyed  scientist  and  his  bride  of  art,  the  sturdy  son  of  agriculture  and  the  dreaming 
child  of  song,  and  their  thought  and  soil  and  song  shall  honor  and  inspire  the 
human  race  and  make  our  country  great — essentially,  exquisitely,  magnificently 
great." 

The  formal  exercises  were  concluded  by  a  dress  parade  on  the  plaza  by 
the  Cadet  Battalion  of  the  Iowa  Agricultural  College,  and  a  reception  at  the 
Iowa  State  building. 

MODERN  WOODMEN   DAY  —  September  22,  1898 

With  thousands  of  Iowa  visitors  who  remained  over  after  the  celebration 
of  Iowa  Day  and  other  thousands  of  Modern  Woodmen  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  this  was  a  banner  day  in  point  of  attendance  at  the  Exposition,  there 
being  about  fifty-three  thousand  people  on  the  grounds.  Modern  Woodmen 
Day  had  been  planned  many  weeks  before.  Preceding  the  formal  exercises 
at  the  Auditorium  a  parade  of  ununiformed  Camps  was  participated  in  by  a 
large  number  of  the  Order.  The  parade  formed  at  the  Electricity  building  at 
10:30  a.  m.,  and  was  headed  by  the  Fourth  Regiment  Band  of  Sioux  City. 
It  passed  entirely  around  the  Main  Court  and  during  the  march  the  various 
companies  executed  a  number  of  movements  which  elicited  vociferous  applause. 
The  parade  ended  at  the  Auditorium,  where  the  following  program  was  given, 
with  a  house  crowded  almost  to  the  point  of  suffocation. 

The  head  officers  of  the  order  were  on  the  platform,  when  the  Omaha 
Concert  Band  played  a  selection,  which  was  succeeded  by  the  following  exercises : 

Address   Hon.  A.  R.  Talbot,  of  Lincoln 

Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Modern  Woodmen. 

Address President  Wattles 

Music    Omaha  Concert   Band 

Address  Gov.  W.  A.  Northcott 

Lieutenant-Governor  of  Illinois  and  Head  Consul  of  the  Order. 

Music    Omaha   Concert   Band 

Address Mrs.  E.  D.  Watts,  of  Omaha 

Supreme  Oracle  of  the  Royal  Neighbors  of  America. 

TWENTY-SECOND   U.   S.    INFANTRY   DAY  —  September  23,  1898 

The  Twenty-second  U.  S.  Infantry  of  Regulars,  about  two  hundred  strong, 
marched  to  the  Exposition  grounds  and  were  passed  through  the  gates.  They 
came  for  a  holiday  and  no  formal  exercises  marred  their  vacation.  Lunch 
was  served  to  the  soldiers  at  the  Markel  Cafe  and  the  day  and  evening  were 
pleasantly  spent  seeing  the  sights  in  the  exhibit  buildings  and  concessions. 


432  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

SWEDISH   DAY  —  September  28,  1898 

From  all  parts  of  the  west  the  Swedes  gathered  to  celebrate  their  day  at 
the  Exposition.  The  exercises  were  held  at  the  Auditorium  at  10:30  a.  m.  The 
program  consisted  of  the  following: 

Music    Omaha   Concert   Band 

Address  of  Welcome General  Manager  T.  S.  Clarkson 

Response Rev.  P.  J.  Sward,  President  of  Augustana  Synod 

Oration  Prof.  O.  Olson,  President  Augustana  College 

Music— Vocal  Solo Miss  Edna  Lund 

Original  Poem  Read  by  Prof.  Ludwig  Holmes,  of  Burlington,  Iowa 

GEORGIA  DAY  —  September  30,  1898 

<* 

A  special  train  brought  a  large  number  of 

.^HH,  Georgia's     representative    citizens     to    celebrate 

their  day  at  the  Exposition.  Georgia  was  the 
only  Southern  State  east  of  the  Mississippi  River 
to  erect  a  building  at  the  Exposition.  This 
building  was  a  credit  to  the  State  and  to  the 
Exposition  as  well.  The  exercises  celebrating 
Georgia  Day  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at 
eleven  o'clock  a.  m.  The  program  was  as  fol- 

Georgia  State  Building  1OWS  : 

Music  Omaha  Concert  Band 

Address    Governor    Northen 

Address    President  Wattles 

Address  Hon.  Henry  Richardson,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Editor  of  the  Atlanta  Journal 

Music  Omaha  Concert  Band 

Address Hon.  Edward  Rosewater,  Editor  of  the  Omaha  Bee 

Address  Hon.  John  Triplett,  of  Thomasville,  Ga. 

Editor  of  the  Thomasville  Times-Enterprise. 

Address  Col.  J.  H.  Estelle,  of  Savannah,  Ga. 

Music. 

Address  Mr.  John  Temple  Graves,  of  Georgia 

who  spoke  most  eloquently  regarding  the  resources  and  opportunities  of  his  State. 

After  these  exercises  a  luncheon  was  served  to  the  visitors  at  the  Markel 
Cafe. 

CHICAGO   DAY  — October  1,  1898 

The  citizens  of  Chicago  planned  to  make  Chicago  Day  at  our  Exposition 
one  of  its  great  days.  Several  special  trains  were  engaged  to  convey  the  crowds 
from  Chicago  to  the  Exposition.  One  of  those  trains  brought  Mayor  Harrison, 
and  the  city  officials  of  Chicago,  with  their  wives  and  families.  The  members 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  433 

of  the  Union  League  Club  of  Chicago,  with  their  wives  and  friends,  filled 
another;  one  conveyed  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  Commissioners 
of  the  World's  Fair  of  Chicago  and  their  friends ;  while  another  was  filled 
with  members  of  the  Chicago  Athletic  Club  and  the  Marquette  Club.  Several 
special  cars  were  attached  to  the  regular  trains  to  accommodate  the  railway 
officials  of  Chicago,  the  Cook  County  Marching  Club  and  many  other  prominent 
citizens.  With  all  these  prominent  visitors,  there  came  a  great  number  on  the 
regular  trains  who  took  advantage  of  the  low  rate  of  fare  the  railroads  had 
made  from  Chicago  to  Omaha  and  return.  The  visitors  began  to  arrive  early 
in  the  day  and  were  met  at  the  depot  by  the  Exposition  officials,  the  Mayor  and 
city  officials  and  many  of  Omaha's  prominent  citizens.  A  parade  was  formed 
at  the  depot,  headed  by  Mayor  Moores  and  Mayor  Harrison,  followed  by  numer- 
ous bands  of  music  and  the  Cook  County  Marching  Club  in  uniform.  The 
procession  marched  north  on  Tenth  Street  to  Farnam,  west  on  Farnam  to  Four- 
teenth, where  it  disbanded. 

The  World's  Fair  Commissioners,  the  city  officials,  the  speakers  of  the 
day,  and  the  Illinois  State  Commission  were  met  at  the  Paxton  Hotel  and  con- 
veyed in  carriages  to  the  Exposition  grounds.  The  exercises  of  the  day  were 
held  in  the  Auditorium,  beginning  at  11:30  o'clock  a.  m.  The  program  was 
as  follows : 

Music Omaha  Concert  Band 

Invocation   Rev.  T.  J.  Mackay 

Address  Chairman  Wm.  H.  Harper 

Address President  Clark  E.  Carr 

Address    Mayor   Moores 

Music Omaha  Concert  Band 

Address    President  Wattles 

Address  Mayor  Carter  H.  Harrison 

Oration — "Chicago  and  Its  Relation  to  the  West" Ex-Comptroller  Charles  G.  Dawes 

Music Omaha  Concert  Band 

Address — "The  Louisiana  Purchase" Hon.  J.  R.  Mann,  of  Chicago 

Music — "The  Star  Spangled  Banner" Omaha  Concert  Band 

Mayor  Harrison  spoke  as  follows : 

"We  are  here  to  return  the  thanks  of  Chicago  for  the  designation  of  this 
day  in  honor  of  their  city.  We  represent  all  nationalities,  all  politics  and  all 
creeds.  We  sometimes  differ  at  home  but  we  are  a  unit  in  extending  to  Omaha 
our  sympathy  and  encouragement  and  our  congratulations  on  its  magnificent 
achievement.  This  celebration  comes  at  a  time  of  glorious  significance  to  this 
country.  We  have  learned  that  the  untried  volunteers  are  of  the  stuff  of 
which  heroes  are  made  and  that  Sampson,  Dewey  and  Schley  are  worthy  suc- 
cessors to  Farragut  and  Perry.  We  are  not  only  a  peace-loving  nation,  but  we 
have  found  that  we  have  the  ability  to  make  our  enemies  on  the  battlefield 
desire  peace  rather  than  war." 


434  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Referring  more  particularly  to  Chicago,  Mayor  Harrison  said  that  a  Chi- 
cagoan  could  not  tell  the  truth  about  his  city  without  being  accused  of  exaggera- 
tion. The  truth  about  Chicago  seemed  like  an  extravagant  dream  to  the  citizen 
of  New  York,  or  Boston  or  Philadelphia.  But  Omaha  can  understand  Chicago. 
Her  people  have  the  same  inherent  spirit,  and  the  same  pluck  and  enterprise 
had  made  each  city  what  it  is.  In  conclusion,  he  declared  that  not  only  on 
this  occasion,  but  in  every  achievement  of  its  future,  Omaha  commands  all  the 
sympathy  and  encouragement  and  inspiration  that  Chicago  has  to  give. 

Ex-Comptroller  Dawes  spoke  in  part  as  follows : 

"Twenty-seven  years  ago  fifty  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Chicago  gathered 
themselves  in  a  little  meeting  under  most  distressing  circumstances.  Around 
them,  in  smoking  and  somber  ruins,  lay  what  had  been  but  a  few  clays  before 


Wm.  H.  Harper  Charles  G.   Dawes 

the  magnificent  city  of  Chicago.  Their  own  homes  had  been  burned  over  their 
heads ;  their  property  of  all  kinds  was  in  ashes ;  around  them  all  was  desolation 
and  cheerlessness  and  the  future  seemed  as  dark  as  the  present.  Some  of  these 
men  rose  and  spoke  of  the  city  as  destroyed  and  lost  forever.  Rebuilding  it 
seemed  to  them  impossible.  To  their  minds  the  great  Chicago,  the  city  of 
their  pride  and  affection,  was  numbered  among  the  things  of  the  past.  But 
from  among  them  rose  a  young  man  who,  amidst  depressing  surroundings, 
lifted  his  voice  in  remonstrance  and  in  prophecy  of  the  future.  'Chicago  will 
live,'  said  he,  'and  live  to  be  so  mighty  and  so  vast  that  this  great  fire  will 
be  but  an  incident  in  its  past.  And  Chicago  will  thus  live  because  beyond  her 
there  lies  the  giant  forces,  the  teeming  millions  and  the  imperial  area  of  the 
mighty  West,  which  having  before  created  Chicago  as  the  necessary  gateway  to 
the  East,  must  recreate  it  under  the  same  necessities.'  That  speaker,  now  the 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  435 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  has  lived  to  see  Chicago 
recreated  by  the  West,  and  his  prophecies  fulfilled  to  the  uttermost. 

"I  have  thought  of  no  better  way  than  by  the  telling  of  this  incident  to 
indicate  the  relation  of  Chicago  to  the  West. 

"Chicago  is  the  child  of  the  West,  dependent  upon  her  for  her  prosperity 
and  progress — almost  for  her  very  existence — and  far  be  it  from  her  to  belittle 
the  debt  she  owes.  Willingly,  freely,  she  acknowledges  and  rejoices  in  it. 
Peopled  largely  by  Western  men,  sustained  largely  by  Western  resources,  she 
feels  the  keenest  and  most  vital  interest  in  the  West,  and  I  believe  the  Great 
West  takes  equal  interest  in  this  young  giant  among  the  cities  of  the  world. 

"The  details  of  the  social  and  commercial  relations  between  the  West  and 
Chicago  daily  grow  more  intimate,  daily  grow  more  vast — relations  which  may 
well  challenge  the  deepest  attention  of  the  student  of  economics  and  of  American 
history — can  receive  from  me  today  but  a  passing  and  superficial  word.  From 
this  great  section,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  passenger  trains  carry  over 
twelve  thousand  people,  rolling  daily  into  the  depots  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
and  an  equal  number  of  trains  depart  daily  from  Chicago  for  the  West. 

"During  the  last  year  twenty  million  bushels  of  Western  wheat,  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  million  bushels  of  Western  corn,  one  hundred  and  eighteen  million 
bushels  of  Western  oats,  and  seventeen  million  bushels  of  Western  rye  went  to  or 
through  the  great  commercial  gateway  of  Chicago.  Of  the  forty-six  million 
pounds  of  second-class  printed  matter  entered  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1896, 
at  the  Chicago  postoffice,  the  authorities  of  the  office  estimate  that  from  three- 
eighths  to  three-quarters  went  to  the  \Vest.  Taking  the  postoffice  average  of 
five  pieces  to  the  pound,  we  find  that  the  total  annual  circulation  of  Chicago 
periodical  issues  in  the  West  must  be  between  one  hundred  and  thirty  million 
and  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  million  copies — a  circulation  of  most  surpris- 
ing and  pretentious  magnitude.  The  combined  mileage  of  the  railroads  east 
and  west  of  the  Missouri  River,  binding  and  knitting  together  the  West  and 
Chicago  in  ties  of  common  interest,  is  sixty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and 
eighty  miles. 

"But  no  catalogue  of  the  evidences  of  the  intimacy  and  vastness  of  the 
commercial  and  sociological  relations  of  the  West  to  Chicago  can  add  to  our 
sense  of  their  importance. 

"The  degree  of  contentment  and  prosperity  experienced  by  the  Western 
people  under  these  relations  of  western  cities,  like  Chicago  and  Omaha,  to  the 
Western  country,  is  so  important  as  affecting  our  national  life  and  progress  that 
these  relations  now  command  the  interest  and  attention  of  the  entire  people  of 
the  United  States. 

"It  is  generally  realized  that  when  the  social  problems  involved  in  them 
are  solved,  all  the  internal  problems  which  confront  our  young  Republic  will  be 
solved.  These  people — the  people  of  Chicago,  and  the  rest — are  .not  waiting 
for  other  people  or  other  nations  to  solve  the  great  problems  of  today,  but  strong 


436  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

in  the  consciousness  of  their  competency  for  the  task,  they  eagerly  seek  after 
right  solutions. 

"The  rapidity  of  the  development  of  the  West  has  in  less  than  two  genera- 
tions brought  them  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of  existence,  under  all  social 
conditions,  from  the  most  primitive  to  the  most  complex. 

"What  has  thus  happened  before  the  eyes  of  one  generation  in  the  West  has 
consumed  several  hundred  years  even  in  other  sections  of  our  country,  and  in 
Continental  Europe  thousands  of  years.  Crowded  into  the  lives  of  the  people 
of  the  West  has  been  the  sight  of  an  empire  builded  from  a  wilderness.  We  stand 
today  in  the  midst  of  this  magnificent  Exposition — an  exponent  of  the  highest 
art  of  the  world — located  in  this  beautiful  city  of  Omaha  with  its  complex 
nineteenth  century  civilization  and  architecture,  and  are  startled  by  the  thought 
that  the  Indian  and  buffalo  which  have  been  brought  here  as  objects  of  curiosity 
lived  in  their  native  state  upon  this  very  site  less  than  fifty  years  ago. 

"Little  wonder  it  is  that  the  people  of  the  West  are  interested  in  these 
relations  of  the  Western  city  to  the  Western  community.  The  fingers  of  fate 
move  in  decades  and  not  in  centuries,  setting  the  problems  for  Western  humanity 
to  conquer. 

"Little  wonder  is  it  that  no  solution  seems  too  difficult  of  attainment  for 
those  who  have  seen  such  great  transformations  in  the  West  through  the  success- 
ful solutions  of  earlier  problems  equally  grave. 

"And  now  as  the  genius  of  America,  at  the  close  of  a  glorious  war  so 
bravely  fought  by  a  gallant  army  and  navy  under  a  great  and  wise  President, 
stands  upon  the  threshold  of  a  dawning  century  and  a  dawning  destiny,  with 
her  face  toward  the  fair  islands  of  the  Pacific  placed  by  God's  hand  under 
her  guardianship,  little  wonder  is  it  that  these  people  of  the  West,  themselves  but 
a  short  time  ago  the  adopted  children  of  the  wilderness,  should  not  doubt  that 
the  path  of  national  duty  toward  the  new  Western  possessions  shall  again  be  the 
path  of  national  glory." 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  JAMES  R.  MANN 
Congressman  Mann  spoke  as  follows : 

"We  celebrate  today  the  victories  of  peace  and  peaceful  pursuits.  Where 
a  magic  city  and  a  beautiful  Exposition  now  stand,  the  wild  buffalo  was  chased 
by  the  savage  Indian  within  the  lifetime  of  many  here.  In  the  midst  of  this  fitting 
celebration  of  the  successes  of  our  arts  of  peace,  while  enjoying  the  benefits 
of  bounteous  plenty  and  prosperity,  it  is  proper  to  recall  the  history  of  those 
events  which  have  made  these  Western  States  an  equal  part  of  that  nation  which 
is  today  the  embodiment  of  progressive  civilization  and  which  flies  the  most 
beautiful  and  beloved  flag  ever  lighted  up  by  the  sunshine  or  kissed  by  the  breeze. 

"Large  streams  from  little  fountains  flow; 
Tall  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


437 


"The  little  narrow  fringe  of  settlements  along  the  Atlantic  coast  has  grown 
into  an  empire  which  sweeps  across  the  continent  and  embraces  the  islands  of 
the  sea. 

"The  Louisiana  Purchase  more  than  doubled  the  national  territory.  It  gave 
to  our  country  the  exclusive  control  of  the  mighty  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries. 
It  planted  our  possessions  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  acquired  for  us  the  Columbia 
River  and  a  coast  line  on  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  brought  into  our  country  a 
region  having  the  most  fertile  farming  and  grazing  lands,  as  well  as  varied 
mineral  resources,  to  be  found  in  the  world,  and  yet  its  acquirement  was,  as  it 
were,  only  a  chance  shot. 

"Spain  owned  the  entire  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the 
eastern  bank  below  the  thirty-first  parallel  of  latitude,  the  boundary  line  fixed 
by  the  treaty  of  1795.  After  the  War  of  the 
Revolution  our  country  west  of  the  Alleghenies 
had  begun  to  fill  up  with  a  class  of  sturdy  and 
independent  pioneer  settlers.  These  settlements 
depended  for  transportation  of  their  products 
wholly  upon  river  navigation,  the  only  outlet  for 
which  was  through  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
owned  and  controlled  by  Spain. 

"In  1800,  by  the  secret  treaty  of  San  Elde- 
fonso,  Spain  retroceded  the  province  of  Louisiana 
to  France,  but  without  delivering  possession  at 
that  time.  It  became  evident  to  the  statesmen  of 
that  time  that  we  could  have  no  lasting  peace  until 
we  should  possess  one  bank  entire  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  with  a  consequent  right  to  its  free 
navigation. 

"Jefferson  was  President,  and  did  not  believe  that  the  constitution  warranted 
the  purchase  of  new  territory,  but  overcoming  his  scruples  he  rose  equal  to  the 
emergency  and  he  commissioned  James  Monroe  to  act  with  Robert  Livingston, 
then  Minister  to  France,  in  an  effort  to  purchase  that  part  of  the  Louisiana 
province  east  of  the  Mississippi,  including  New  Orleans,  and  Congress  appro- 
priated the  sum  of  two  million  dollars  for  that  purpose. 

"  'It  is  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good.'  Fortunately,  for  our  own 
interests,  France  and  England  were  then  on  the  verge  of  another  war.  They 
had  just  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace,  but  each  country  was  looking  with  dread 
suspicion  upon  the  other.  England  viewed  with  grave  suspicion  the  retransfer 
by  Spain  of  the  immense  Louisiana  province  to  France ;  and  Napoleon,  who 
was  then  the  first  Consul  of  France  and  its  ruler,  quickly  saw  that  in  case  of  war 
the  English,  with  their  superiority  at  sea,  would  immediately  seize  New  Orleans 
and  the  Mississippi  River  Valley.  On  Easter  Sunday,  April  10,  1803,  he  called 
two  of  his  counselors  who  were  most  familiar  with  the  foreign  possessions  and 
asked  their  advice.  He  said  to  them :  T  know  the  full  value  of  Louisiana,  and 


James  R.  Mann 


438  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

I.  have  been  desirous  of  repairing  the  fault  of  the  French  negotiator  who 
abandoned  it  in  1763.  A  few  lines  of  a  treaty  have  restored  it  to  me,  and  I  have 
scarcely  recovered  it  when  I  must  expect  to  lose  it.  But  if  it  escapes  me,  it 
shall  one  day  cost  dearer  to  those  who  oblige  me  to  strip  myself  of  it,  than  to 
those  to  whom  I  wish  to  deliver  it.  The  English  have  successively  taken  from 
France  Canada,  Cape  Breton,  Newfoundland,  Nova  Scotia  and  the  richest  por- 
tions of  Asia.  They  shall  not  have  the  Mississippi,  which  they  covet.' 

"After  hearing  from  his  advisers,  one  in  favor  of  selling  the  province  to 
the  United  States,  the  other  in  favor  of  retaining  it,  Napoleon  said :  'Irresolution 
and  deliberation  are  no  longer  in  season ;  1  renounce  Louisiana.  It  is  not  only 
New  Orleans  that  I  will  cede ;  it  is  the  whole  colony  without  any  reservation.1 

"Monroe  and  Livingston  had  no  authority  to  accept  the  offer  which  was 
made  to  them  by  Napoleon.  They  could  not  cable  for  instructions.  They  had 
no  time  to  communicate  with  the  home  Government  by  letter.  Napoleon  was 
not  a  Spanish  diplomat;  he  wanted  his  offer  promptly  accepted  or  rejected. 

"Monroe  and  Livingston,  however,  proved  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  after 
negotiations,  which  lasted  for  a  few  days,  the  purchase  was  agreed  upon,  the 
United  States  to  pay  France  a  principal  sum  of  eleven  million  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  payable  in  stocks  or  bonds  due  in  fifteen  years,  with  interest, 
and  the  further  sum  of  three  million  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
to  be  paid  by  our  Government  to  American  citizens  having  certain  valid  claims 
against  France. 

"When  the  treaty  became  known  in  this  country,  some  of  the  haters  of 
President  Jefferson  raised  a  violent  outcry  against  its  confirmation,  and  dire 
predictions  were  made  about  the  danger  of  extending  the  country  in  violation 
of  the  constitution,  and  burdening  the  people  with  an  immense  debt  for  the 
purpose  of  buying  an  uninhabitable  wilderness. 

"The  treaty  of  purchase  was  dated  April  30,  1803,  was  ratified  in  October 
following,  and  on  December  20,  1803,  the  American  flag  was  raised  over  New 
Orleans.  No  one  can  measure  the  future  possibilities  of  these  States  embraced 
in  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  The  development  since  the  purchase  in  1803  has 
been  more  splendid  than  an  alchemist's  dream.  The  future  will  far  outrival  the 
present  and  the  past. 

"The  value  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  can  not  yet  be  appreciated.  In  1854 
Omaha  was  but  a  bare  trading  post.  Its  growth  has  been  as  rapid  as  the  mush- 
room which  springs  up  in  the  night,  but  as  strong  and  certain  as  the  steel  beams 
which  constitute  the  superstructure  of  its  great  buildings,  and  is  but  an  example 
of  the  genius  of  the  West. 

"The  acquisition  of  the  Louisiana  Territory  was  the  greatest  prize  ever  gained 
by  a  nation  at  one  time.  By  the  stroke  of  a  pen  an  empire  changed  hands.  In 
a  moment  of  doubt  a  construction  was  placed  upon  the  constitution  which 
authorized  the  vast  increase  of  territory. 

"The  Louisiana  Purchase  will  soon  have  a  greater  population  than  the 
country  which  sold  it  to  us.  A  single  false  step  might'  have  lost  us  tin- 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  439 

possession.  All  the  circumstances  at  the  time  of  its  purchase  conspired  to  give 
us  a  single  opportunity  to  gain  an  empire.  The  opportunity  refused  or  neglected 
might  never  have  come  again. 

"The  France  which  today  maintains  an  army  of  more  than  half  a  million 
men  because  she  was  compelled  to  cede  Alsace  and  Lorraine  to  Germany,  gave 
away  to  us  a  possession  many  times  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  gave  it  in  friendly 
peace. 

"Not  one  of  us  can  look  far  into  the  future.  The  progress  of  a  century 
has  enabled  us  to  utilize  all  our  possessions.  The  lightning's  fluid  puts  far  dis- 
tant territory  in  a  moment's  communication  with  the  capital.  The  expansion  of 
our  domain  and  the  increase  of  our  possessions  made  more  keen  the  genius  and 
intellect  of  our  people.  It  broadened  the  heart  and  deepened  the  souls  of  our 
citizens.  With  the  new  wants,  caused  by  long  distance  and  varied  interests, 
came  new  ideas  with  which  to  supply  those  wants.  New  discoveries  in  the  fields 
of  science,  art,  mechanics,  follow  closely  the  new  discoveries  regarding  the  sur- 
face of  our  territory." 

A  banquet  was  served  to  the  prominent  guests  in  the  Markel  Cafe  imme- 
diately after  the  exercises,  and  a  special  sham  battle  was  given  in  the  afternoon 
for  their  entertainment,  followed  by  a  reception  in  the  evening  at  the  Illinois 
building,  where  many  prominent  citizens  of  Omaha  gathered  to  pay  their  respects 
to  the  honored  visitors. 

LIVE-STOCK   DAY— October  3,  1898 

As  one  of  the  great  attractions  of  the  Exposition,  a  live-stock  show  had 
been  planned  which  should  equal  or  excel  any  such  display  that  had  ever  been 
made.  Premiums  to  the  amount  of  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  had  been  voted 
by  the  Board  of  Directors.  Nearly  twenty  acres  of  ground  had  been  covered  by 
buildings  and  stalls,  wherein  nearly  three  thousand  animals  were  displayed,  and 
on  this  day  the  Live-stock  Exhibit  was  opened  to  the  inspection  of  the  world.  No 
formal  exercises  marked  the  beginning  of  this  great  exhibition,  but  thousands 
of  live-stock  men  from  all  over  the  West  swelled  the  attendance,  and  great  interest 
was  aroused  by  the  magnificent  display  which  awaited  their  inspection.  This 
live-stock  exhibit  proved  a  very  instructive  and  interesting  feature  of  the  Exposi- 
tion, and  was  pronounced  one  of  its  most  successful  exhibits. 

PENNSYLVANIA  DAY  — October  5,  1898 

Numerous  representatives  of  trade  organizations,  members  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Commission,  and  prominent  citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  including  the  Honor- 
able Charles  Emory  Smith,  of  Philadelphia,  Postmaster-General  of  the  United 
States,  came  to  celebrate  their  day  at  the  Exposition. 

A  public  reception  was  tendered  Postmaster-General  Smith  by  Honorable 
Edward  Rosewater  at  the  Bee  building,  on  the  evening  of  October  4.  At  this 


440 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


reception,  many  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  Omaha  and  visitors  from  all  parts 
of  the  West  paid  their  respects  to  the  representatives  of  the  Government.  Music 
was  furnished,  and  short  addresses  were  made. 

The  exercises  for  Pennsylvania  Day  were  held  at  the  Auditorium  at  2:30 
o'clock  p.  m.,  and  consisted  of  the  following  program: 

Music Innes  Band 

Address  of  Welcome  Gen.  Charles  F.  Manderson 

Response  Hon.  John  Woodside,  Chairman  Pennsylvania  Commission 

Music Innes  Band 

Oration Hon.  Charles  Emory  Smith,   Postmaster-General  United  States 

Postmaster-General  Smith  spoke  as  follows : 

"This  is  Pennsylvania  Day.  It  is  dedicated  to  the  friendly  interests  of  the 
great  commonwealth  of  the  East  in  this  splendid  monument  of  the  energy  and 
public  spirit  of  the  West.  Philadelphia  is  the  mother  of  American  expositions. 
She  has  seen  with  pride  how  the  Centennial  of  1876  has  been  followed  by  a  series 
of  brilliant  exhibitions  and  she  has  encouraged  and  supported  them  with  the 
same  patriotic  zeal  which  prompted  her  own  pioneer  effort.  She  is  here  today 
through  her  representatives  to  congratulate  you  on  this  stately  and  impressive 

creation,  on  these  dazzling  scenes  of  beauty  and 
activity,  which  typify  the  artistic  achievements  and 
the  industrial  progress  of  this  mighty  Trans- 
Mississippi  region.  Pennsylvania  feels  another 
interest  in  this  imposing  exhibition.  To  the  sturdy, 
enlightened  and  enterprising  citizenship  which  has 
created  this  noble  commonwealth  she  has  con- 
tributed an  honorable  share ;  her  blood  flows  in  the 
veins  of  this  vigorous  offspring  of  the  adventurous 
spirit  and  thrift  of  the  older  sections.  Her  children 
are  among  the  pillars  of  your  State.  One  of  her 
sons  was  for  years  your  distinguished  and  honored 
Senator,  and  still  adorns  and  illuminates  your  civic 
life.  Pennsylvania  blends  in  high  degree  the  com- 
posite racial  elements  and  the  fruitful  heritage  of 
ancestral  diversity  which  have  enriched  and 
strengthened  the  American  people ;  and  steadfast,  stable  and  solid  as  she  is, 
firm  as  the  keystone  of  the  arch  she  symbolizes,  she  has  none  the  less  joined 
in  the  onward  march  and  infused  something  of  her  own  characteristics  in  the 
upbuilding  of  this  great  Empire  of  the  West.  We  have  moved  during  the  last 
six  months  in  the  swift  current  of  stupendous  events  which  have  recast  the  maps 
and  spanned  the  whole  horizon.  We  have  just  emerged  triumphant  from  a  short 
but  crucial  and  momentous  war,  which  has  carried  forward  history  and  unveiled 
destiny.  The  halo  it  has  shed  on  American  arms,  and  the  glory  with  which  it  has 
exalted  the  American  name,  fill  us  with  just  pride  and  exaltation.  Reluctantly 


Charles  Emory  Smith, 
Postmaster-General 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  441 

accepted  by  the  President  only  under  the  supreme  mandate  of  humanity  and  jus- 
tice, yet  once  undertaken,  the  unerring  seriousness  of  its  aim,  the  unfaltering 
vigor  of  its  direction  and  the  unbroken  sweep  of  its  success,  stand 
unmatched  on  the  pages  of  war.  The  renown  of  the  American  navy,  always 
brilliant,  and  never  equaled,  man  for  man  and  gun  for  gun,  was  sustained 
and  enhanced  in  every  clash  of  the  struggle.  An  army  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men  was  summoned  from  the  ranks  of  citizenship,  organized,  equipped 
and  made  ready  for  action.  Every  soldier  who  fought  was  transported  beyond 
the  deep.  The  whole  scene  of  the  war  was  on  foreign  soil  and  in  a  tropical 
clime,  under  burning  skies  arid  drenching  torrents,  with  the  blight  of  fever  and 
the  danger  of  pestilence.  In  the  face  of  such  difficulties,  what  a  swift  and 
unerring  triumph ! 

"With  our  monumental  victory,  we  face  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
republic.  We  come  into  a  broader  outlook,  whose  deep  import  it  is  well  for  us 
to  consider.  The  world  knows  our  ampler  reach  and  our  larger  destiny  and  we 
feel  it.  No  true  American  can  be  insensible  to  the  increased  respect  for  our 
country  and  the  higher  conception  of  its  mission  which  the  marvelous  revelations 
of  this  war  have  inspired  in  all  lands.  The  embattled  farmers  at  Lexington 
'fired  the  shot  heard  around  the  world,'  and  not  less  distinctly  and  significantly 
did  the  opening  shot  of  this  war  under  the  glittering  constellations  of  the  Orient 
resound  in  every  capital  of  the  globe  and  awaken  a  new  understanding  of 
America's  onward  movement. 

"It  is  recognized  that  the  United  States  advances  to  its  place  as  one  of  the 
great  world  powers,  and  whatever  may  be  our  wise  policy,  whatever  may  be 
the  measure  of  our  just  restraint  or  our  legitimate  condition,  no  American  can 
fail  to  feel  an  honorable  pride  in  the  new  distinction  and  the  new  consideration 
never  before  approached,  which  American  heroism  and  American  statesmanship 
have  brought  to  our  republic.  The  world's  acknowledged  tribute  is  the  measure 
of  its  estimate  of  the  potency  of  our  new  position.  Our  use  of  that  position  will 
be  the  measure  of  our  wisdom  and  rulership.  Equal  to  every  crisis  in  the  past, 
we  shall  deal  with  this  emergency  in  the  true  American  spirit.  It  makes  us 
responsible  for  Cuba.  It  gives  us  Porto  Rico.  It  plants  our  outposts  on  the 
further  side  of  the  globe.  Whatever  we  hold,  whether  it  be  more  or  less,  will  be 
held,  not  for  territorial  aggrandizement,  but  solely  in  acceptance  of  responsibilities 
which  Providence  has  laid  upon  us.  Men  like  to  talk  of  'imperialism.'  Our 
imperialism  is  not  territorial  lust,  but  benignant  trade  expansion  and  civilizing 
influence,  and  our  flag  is  at  Manila,  not  in  any  spirit  of  spoliation,  not  in  either 
the  greed  or  the  glory  of  conquest,  but,  let  it  be  reverently  said,  under  the  con- 
trolling force  of  a  Deity  or  of  a  providential  guidance,  at  the  ripe  hour  in  the 
development  and  requirements  of  our  national  growth. 

"It  is  treated  in  many  quarters  simply  as  a  question  of  territorial  expansion, 
but  that  is  a  secondary  and  incidental  consideration.  The  great  and  over- 
shadowing question  is  one  of  commercial  openings.  The  heart  of  the  issue  is 
not  mere  territory,  but  trade,  necessities  and  facilities.  Beyond  and  behind  and 


442  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

beneath  this  departure  lies  the  broad  problem  of  America's  destiny  in  the  com- 
merce and  civilization  of  the  world.  If  we  are  to  fulfill  that  destiny  we  must 
have  commercial  expansion,  and  it  is  a  profoundly  significant  fact  which  shows 
a  guiding  hand  that  overrules  the  will  of  man  that  this  war  should  have  come 
just  as  this  great  necessity  begins  to  be  realized.  The  opportunity  matches  the 
need. 

"The  universal  acceptance  of  its  obligation  to  stretch  forth  its  civilizing 
hand  where  the  fate  of  war  has  carried  it,  a  fortunate  possession  of  an  established 
emporium  on  the  very  theater  of  the  world's  seeking,  have  brought  the  occasion 
and  the  duty  together.  Is  it  not  for  enlightened  American  statesmanship,  watch- 
ful of  American  interests,  to  use  the  opportunity,  not  in  territorial  avarice,  but  for 
commercial  extension  and  civilizing  influence  in  the  Orient  with  the  base  and 
bulwark  that  are  needed  for  its  support?  Shall  we  be  worthy  of  this  high 
mission?  I  have  full  faith  in  my  countrymen.  I  believe  in  the  spirit  and  capacity 
of  the  American  people.  This  war  and  its  tremendous  question  has  given  us  a 
new  elevation  and  dignity  and  purpose.  How  it  has  dwarfed  and  diminished 
our  domestic  differences  and  our  petty  contentions !  How  it  has  kindled  the 
patriotic  fire  and  quickened  the  true  national  instinct !  How  it  has  lifted  us  to 
a  higher  plane  of  public  consciousness  and  to  a  broader  view  of  national  great- 
ness !  In  the  large  work  before  us  of  governing  and  developing  our  new 
possessions,  of  ameliorating  and  advancing  the  condition  of  the  new  people  who 
have  been  brought  under  the  protecting  folds  of  our  flag,  and  of  achieving  the 
fullness  of  the  possibilities  within  our  grasp,  there  is  call  for  all  that  is  best  in 
our  American  courage  and  statesmanship  and  character. 

"There  is  call  for  thoughtful,  conscientious  and  patriotic  devotion  on  the 
part  of  the  people.  Dealing  with  these  great  questions  which  the  future  of  our 
country  and  its  relations  to  the  world  make  necessary  calls  for  no  narrow 
partisanship.  Let  us  leave  our  partisanship  to  domestic  issues ;  let  us  limit  our 
family  contests  to  the  family  circle ;  let  us  with  patriotic  spirit  end  them  at  our 
own  shores,  and  when  we  come  to  confront  foreign  countries  and  nations  involv- 
ing our  honor,  our  dignity  and  our  interests  before  the  world,  let  us  stand  united 
as  one  people,  forgetting  that  we  are  republicans  and  democrats  and  remembering 
only  that  we  are  all  Americans  together. 

"With  single  purpose  and  with  unerring  wisdom  our  Executive  has.  called 
his  aides  and  associates  in  the  great  work  from  all  parties  and  all  sections,  and 
through  all  the  conflicts  and  all  the  settlement  his  sole  thought  has  been  the  wel- 
fare and  glory  of  his  country.  It  is  for  the  American  people  to  meet  these 
new  questions  in  the  same  lofty  spirit  of  patriotism,  with  open  eyes  for  the 
broader  career  before  us  and  open  hands  for  the  higher  duty  and  destiny  of  the 
republic." 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


443 


OHIO   DAY —  October  7,  1898 

The  Governor  of  Ohio,  with  his  staff  and  numerous  representative  citizens 
from  the  Buckeye  State,  were  met  at  the  Paxton  Hotel  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Ohio   State   Commission,    President   Wattles   and 
members   of   the   Bureau   of   Entertainment,    and 
conveyed  in  carriages  to  the  Exposition  grounds. 
The  line  of  carriages  was  preceded  by  the  Toledo 
Marine  Band.  •        ~m  4* , 

The  exercises  at  the  Auditorium  took  place  at 
eleven  o'clock  a.  m.,  and  consisted  of  the  follow- 
ing program : 

Music  Toledo  Marine  Band 

Address  of  Welcome Governor  Silas  A.  Holcomb 

Response  Governor  Asa  S.  Bushnell 

Music Toledo  Marine  Band 

Address Hon.  John  L.  Webster 

Address  Col.  James  Kilbourne 

Address   Mayor  Jones,  of  Toledo 

Governor  Bushnell  spoke  as  follows : 


Daniel  W.  Jones,  Mayor  of  Toledo 


"Your  Excellency,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  It  affords  me  heartfelt  gratifica- 
tion to  respond,  on  behalf  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  the  generous  words  of  welcome 
that  have  been  uttered  by  the  representative  of  this  great  State  and  great  under- 
taking and  charming  city,  to  those  who  have  come  to  witness  and  participate 
in  the  honors  to  be  paid  the  State  and  the  people,  of  whom  we  are  so  proud. 

"It  seems  to  me,  your  Excellency,  that  you  have  gathered  welcomes  from 
the  hearts  of  all  your  people  and  have  tossed  them  from  your  lips  over  this 
beautiful  audience  and  I  can  assure  you  they  will  abide  with  us  as  sweet  for- 
get-me-nots of  the  occasion  and  of  our  visit  here,  and  your  "words  of  welcome 
will  be  sweet  memories  to  us  as  they  come  floating  down  into  our  hearts  with 
thoughts  of  love,  of  home  and  country. 

"Ohio  rejoices  in  this  exploitation  of  the  marvelous  development  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  States.  Ohio  applauds  the  energy  and  enterprise,  the  ability 
and  zeal,  the  courage  and  consummate  skill  which  has  given  to  our  nation  and 
to  the  world  this  splendid  manifestation  of  the  triumphs  of  civilization  during 
hardly  half  a  century  of  progress.  Ohio  recognizes  the  distinction  given  when 
the  Trans-Mississippi  States  in  their  great  Exposition  program  set  apart  this 
time  for  the  people  of  an  admiring  and  loyal  sister  State  to  pay  their  tribute  of 
respect  and  their  homage  for  a  deed  well  done.  No  praise  or  homage  can  be 
more  sincere  than  ours ;  we  realize  the  significance  and  the  intent  of  this  vast 
and  magnificent  demonstration  in  glory  of  this  rich  domain  and  its  people ;  we 
are  mindful  of  the  righteous  claim  you  have  to  the  approbation  of  all  who  love 
advancement  in  the  affairs  of  men. 


444  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"The  great  West  and  Ohio  are  indeed  bound  by  a  fraternal  chain ;  a  com- 
mon ancestry  unites  many  of  our  respective  people,  and  the  States  have  pro- 
gressed along  the  same  lines.  The  enormous  expanse  west  of  the  Mississippi 
teems  with  Ohioans,  or  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Ohioans.  No  arm  has  been 
more  potent  in  the  redemption  of  that  which  was  a  vast  wilderness  than  that  of 
Ohio.  Her  colonists  have  only  stopped  at  the  Pacific,  and  I  am  now  told  that 
much  Ohio  enterprise  is  manifest  in  Japan  and  the  far  East.  I  know  that  you 
will  not  resent  this  claim  of  ours  to  some  of  the  credit  that  is  due  for  the 
achievements  now  before  the  eyes  of  all  men.  The  first  settlers  of  our  State, 
whether  from  old  Connecticut,  or  old  Virginia,  were  conscientious  people,  who 
brought  with  them  not  only  industry  and  perseverance,  but  also  those  religious 
principles  which  go  so  far  to  stamp  the  history  of  a  State. 

"Fresh  from  the  Revolution's  fire, 

They  came  to  hew  the  empire's  way, 
Through  trackless  wastes,  and  to  inspire 
The  sunlight  of  young  freedom's  day. 

"They  founded  a  peerless  State,  and  not  content  with  such  an  achieve- 
ment as  Ohio,  some  of  these  pioneers  and  their  children  straightway  kept  up 
the  noble  work  and  carved  four  more  great  States  out  of  the  Northwest  terri- 
tory. The  example  thus  set  by  Ohio's  pioneers  has,  I  verily  believe,  been 
imitated  persistently  down  to  this  day.  Her  children  are  to  be  found  every- 
where in  this  matchless  agricultural  area.  They  are  of  sturdy  stock  and  I  know 
I  voice  the  sentiments  of  all  when  I  say  that  their  adopted  States  have  profited 
by  their  coming  and  by  their  staying.  There  is  an  Ohio  colony  in  this  State,  and 
an  Ohio  Society  of  this  city.  Like  its  distinguished  sister  organization  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  it  is  composed  of  strong  men — those  who  have  made  their 
mark  in  the  business  and  professional  world  and  who  enjoy  the  esteem  and 
confidence  of  their  fellowmen.  It  is,  I  assure  you,  a  great  pleasure  to  all  of  us 
who  come  from  the  land  of  their  birth,  to  know  that  these  former  Ohioans  have 
had  an  active  part  not  only  in  this  work,  but  in  much  that  has  preceded  it. 

"I  beg  of  you  to  believe  that  this  laudation  of  Ohio  and  Ohioans  is  only 
inspired  by  my  desire  to  obtain  some  credit  for  agency  in  this  grand  work  by 
which  you  put  before  all  the  world  a  plain  and  truthful,  yet  glorious,  exhibit 
of  the  wonderful  fertility  of  your  land,  the  strength  of  your  industries,  and  the 
ability  of  your  people.  Surely,  in  such  a  cause,  one  can  lay  stress  upon  any  fact 
or  theory  which  will  enable  the  claim  that  some  of  the  virtue  is  owing  to  your 
kindred. 

"Speaking  of  myself,  and  yet,  as  I  well  know,  showing  the  innermost 
thought  of  many  of  the  Ohioans  who  are  here  with  us  today,  I  must  say  that 
I  can  not  express  the  wonder  of  my  mind  when  dwelling  upon  the  history  of 
this  Indian  country  of  old  and  its  present-day  development.  In  approaching 
such  a  subject  one  must,  in  a  measure,  feel  some  awe.  It  is  more  like  the  work 
of  an  Aladdin,  or  a  magician  who,  with  his  wand,  transforms  the  crude  into  the 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  445 

finished  product,  or  from  the  rough  material  makes  a  splendid  creation.  When 
Ohio,  in  the  dignity  of  a  youthful  State,  was  pluming  herself  upon  her  Consti- 
tution, upon  her  representatives  in  Congress,  and  upon  her  Government,  the 
great  region  of  which  in  this  year  Omaha  is  now  the  central  point  was  a 
portion  of  the  District  of  Louisiana.  When  much  of  the  history  of  our  State  had 
been  written  this  was  known  as  the  Indian  country ;  when  Ohio  was  plunged 
into  the  dissensions  that  sometimes  come  with  a  supposed  state  of  civilization, 
these  were  but  territories.  It  is  hard  to  realize,  and  yet  we  all  know  that  it  is 
true. 

"Not  long  ago,  in  a  convenient  little  book  which  seems  to  have  been  written 
for  the  especial  benefit  of  Governors  of  States,  I  came  across  some  paragraphs 
expressing  opinions  of  those  who  can  not  be  called  people  of  very  remote  age 
and  relating  to  this  very  district.  I  can  not  forbear  to  quote  a  few  of  these  as 
they  seem  to  furnish  the  best  means  of  introducing  the  standard  by  which  the 
Trans-Mississippi  States  are  to  be  judged  today.  That  is,  they  show  how  little 
man  knows  of  the  future  and  how  vain  are  his  theories  when  dealing  with 
mighty  nature.  Let  me  quote  now : 

"In  his  Universal  Geography,  Kedediah  Morse  remarked  that  'It  has  been 
supposed  that  all  settlers  who  go  beyond  the  Mississippi  River  will  be  forever 
lost  to  the  United  States.'  Lieutenant  Pike  reported  to  the  War  Department, 
that  'From  these  immense  prairies  may  be  derived  one  great  advantage  to  the 
United  States ;  namely,  the  restriction  of  our  population  to  some  certain  limits, 
and  thereby  a  continuation  of  the  Union.  They  will  be  constrained  to  limit 
their  extent  to  the  West,  to  the  borders  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  while 
they  leave  the  prairies,  incapable  of  cultivation,  to  the  wandering  and  uncivilized 
aborigines  of  the  country.'  Major  Long  reported  that  this  region  bore  'a 
manifest  resemblance  to  the  deserts  of  Siberia.'  The  Edinbnrg  Review  said: 
'There  lies  the  desert,  except  in  a  few  spots  on  the  borders  of  the  rivers,  incapa- 
ble, probably  forever,  of  fixed  settlements.'  The  North  American  Reznezv  (in 
1858)  said :  'The  people  of  the  United  States  have  reached  their  inland  western 
frontier,  and  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  River  are  the  shores  at  the  termination 
of  a  vast  ocean  desert  over  1,000  miles  in  breadth,  which  it  is  proposed  to  travel, 
if  at  all,  with  caravans  of  camels,  and  which  interpose  a  final  barrier  to  the 
establishment  of  large  communications,  agricultural,  commercial,  or  even  pas- 
toral.' 

"And  I  can  add  to  these  remarks  the  suggestion  which  I  think  will  be 
borne  out  by  the  Congressional  Record,  that  it  was  the  great  and  wise  and 
eloquent  Daniel  Webster,  who,  in  a  speech  opposing  the  institution  of  a  wagon 
road  across  the  plains,  said  that  no  good  would  ever  come  out  of  the  region ; 
that  it  was  incapable  of  civilization  or  cultivation.  These,  I  know,  are  not  the 
precise  words,  but  I  believe  the  effect  has  been  rendered  faithfully. 

"You  all  know,  in  a  general  way,  what  a  startling  transformation  has 
ensued  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  country,  for  I  do  not  limit  the  impractical  line 
of  old  to  the  Missouri  River.  It  was  all  the  same  to  these  deluded  men,  who 


4:46  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

saw  nothing  in  the  rich  prairie  country.  At  the  risk  of  repeating  facts  and 
figures,  which  may  be  well  understood  by  the  citizens  of  this  region,  and 
which  may,  therefore,  be  trite  observations,  I  wish  to  put  before  your  minds 
some  statements  which  will  give  a  truer  conception  of  the  immensity  of  the 
change.  I  will  leave  unspoken  all  reference  to  your  manufacturing,  to  your 
commerce,  and  to  trade  in  general,  and  will  deal  only  with  that  portion  of  the 
general  subject  which  concerns  the  true  foundation  stone  of  our  national 
prosperity — I  mean  agriculture.  And  even  in  agriculture  I  must  limit  the  scope, 
for  in  this  country  it  becomes  too  broad  for  ordinary  discussion.  I  find,  accord- 
ing to  the  reports  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  that  in  1896 
your  States  of  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  South  Dakota  and  North 
Dakota — which  we  commonly  call  the  Trans-Mississippi  States,  when  consider- 
^^^^1^^  ing  them  in  an  agricultural  sense — had  an  acreage 

of  corn,  wheat  and  oats  under  cultivation  which 
was  very  nearly  thirty-eight  per  cent  of  the  whole 
acreage  of  the  United  States,  devoted  to  such  pur- 
poses. Furthermore,  I  find  that  upon  this  acreage 
in  the  Trans-Mississippi  States  I  have  named, 
there  was  produced  a  combined  crop,  which  was 
over  forty  per  cent  of  the  whole  of  such  production 
in  the  Union.  And,  again,  as  I  have  figured  it,  I 
discovered  that  this  crop  represented  very  nearly 
twenty  per  cent  of  the  total  value  of  such  produc- 
tion in  the  Union.  The  figures  run  into  stupendous 
amounts  and  are  almost  beyond  comprehension. 
The  wealth  of  Golconda  could  hardly  have  been 
considered  in  connection  with  such  financial  results 

Judge  Wm.  Howard  Taft  ^     ^^     broad     prairies     proclllCed.        What     feeble 

efforts  are  those  of  the  mining  regions  of  the  world,  when  one  considers  them 
in  comparison  with  the  wealth  of  the  cereals  of  these  States.  Again,  the  thought 
comes,  how  little  do  we  know  the  possibilities  of  the  soil,  or  the  resources  of 
man.  To  the  north  of  us  a  thousand  miles  from  here  lies  the  territory  of  our 
neighbor,  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  But  a  few  years  ago  it  was  supposed  that 
the  vast  expanse  north  of  the  divisional  line  was  practically  unfit  for  serious 
effort  in  the  way  of  agriculture.  And  yet  the  work  is  going  bravely  on  with 
great  returns.  It  is  now  very  nearly  to  the  Athabasca  River,  and  who  knows 
how  much  farther  north  it  may  go  in  the  future.  Even  climatic  conditions  may 
not  be  able  to  stop  the  march  of  progress  and  of  civilization.  We  must  not  forget 
that  the  men  who  pronounced  this  region  as  valueless  to  the  white  man  looked 
only  through  the  spectacles  of  the  period. 

"I  can  not  express  the  degree  of  praise  I  feel  for  those  who  have  accom- 
plished the  mighty  and  marvelous  task  of  making  this  region  one  of  the  garden 
spots  of  the  world.  Even  if  nature  was  kindly  in  her  response  to  the  zeal  and 
energy  of  the  husbandman,  there  were  yet  tremendous  difficulties  to  be  overcome. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  447 

The  comfort  and  the  luxury  that  now  surrounds  many  of  your  citizens  are 
only  indicative  of  bounteous  nature  and  hard  work.  There  are  many  still 
who  are  in  the  throes  of  the  beginning,  but  I  have  every  confidence  that  the 
result  will  be  the  same  in  all  cases  where  equal  conscientious  endeavor  marks 
the  effort.  This  Exposition  speaks  well  for  every  industry  of  your  region ;  it 
typifies,  as  no  other  monument  or  enterprise  reared  by  human  hands  could,  the 
virtues  of  your  aims  and  purposes,  and  the  success  which  has  crowned  your 
efforts.  It  is  wonderful  to  see,  and  yet  it  teaches  a  lesson  plain  to  all  men.  It 
is  the  result  of  the  American  character  and,  therefore,  we  all  can  share  in  the 
just  pride. 

"My  countrymen,  can  any  of  us,  thinking  not  in  a  vain-glorious,  but  in  a 
truly  appreciative  and  patriotic  way,  form  any  proper  conception  of  the  strength 
and  power,  the  ability  and  the  resourcefulness,  of  our  great  nation?  Students 
of  all  records  of  man  have  acknowledged  that  the  American  result — the  direct 
product  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race — has  no  parallel,  and  we  have  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  praise  and  wonder  and,  perhaps,  the  envy  of  the  older  nations,  as 
such  have  been  expressed  from  time  to  time.  Would  that  we  ourselves  could 
be  able  to  reach  some  just  estimate.  Not  that  it  might  be  used  in  self-laudation, 
which  is  ever  unbecoming,  but  that  all  should  know  how  great  our  gratitude  to 
God  should  be,  and  how  much  we  should  value  the  work  of  our  fellowmen  in 
this  blessed  land.  The  history  of  America  is  replete  with  the  stories  which  tell 
the  triumphs  of  our  people  over  obstacles.  Had  any  other  illustration  or  inci- 
dent been  needed  it  was  supplied  this  year  when  the  nation,  busy  as  it  was, 
with  its  own  affairs,  and  vast  interests,  espoused  a  good  cause  and  astonished 
the  world  by  an  exhibition  of  quick  transformation  from  a  state  of  peace  to  that 
of  war.  The  result,  as  is  usual  with  us,  has  been  significant  and  valuable. 
Another  side  of  the  all-conquering  American  nature  has  been  shown,  and  again 
the  world  is  wondering  for  the  next  development.  It  has  seemed  strange  to 
those  abroad  that  with  such  momentous  matters  in  hand,  the  nation  should  be 
able  to  continue  business  without  serious  interruption  or  effort,  and  that,  among 
other  evidences  of  unconcern,  the  people  could  take  an  active  part  in  such  an 
affair  as  this,  which  is  always  supposed  to  be  an  incident  of  peace.  We  can  be 
proud  of  our  country,  but,  my  fellow-citizens,  even  we  can  not  understand  her. 
As  well  might  the  average  man  attempt  to  estimate  the  force  and  power  of  a 
cataract  as  to  reach  a  true  realization  of  the  colossal  resources  and  the  marvelous 
conditions  of  our  republic.  This  creation  before  us  is  but  one  exhibit — one 
demonstration  of  the  power  that  lies  behind.  It  is  a  striking  example  and  a 
finished  product,  but  even  its  human  authors,  despite  their  hard  labor,  will  admit 
that  it  but  represents  one  of  the  fingers  of  the  deft  and  mighty  hands  of  a  nation 
which,  under  the  guidance  of  a  Divine  Providence,  seems  destined  to  act  for  the 
good  and  the  teaching  of  the  world  in  the  future  as  it  has  done  in  the  past. 

"The  view  we  have  had,  and  will  have,  today,  of  the  achievements  exhibited 
by  this  great  Exposition,  can  not  but  move  us  to  the  spirit  of  emulation.  Not 
in  a  boasting  spirit,  nor  that  of  rivalry,  but  in  that  of  fraternity,  let  me  say 


448  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

that  Ohio  can  and  must  do  as  well  at  a  later  date.  Ohio,  when  her  century  of 
time  shall  have  come,  must  send  her  greeting  and  her  bidding  to  this  progressive 
people  that  they  may  journey  eastward,  even  as  we  have  come  westward,  to  wor- 
ship at  another  shrine  of  progress  and  development.  Five  years  hence,  Ohio 
will  have  her  centennial,  at  the  beautiful  city  of  Toledo,  the  metropolis  of  our 
State's  northwest,  whose  face  is  bathed  by  the  waters  of  the  River  Maumee,  and 
her  feet  by  the  restless  waves  of  Lake  Erie — ever  coming  and  going.  A  multi- 
tude of  her  enterprising  citizens  from  all  walks  of  life  are  now  here  to  second 
the  invitation  I  extend  you,  and  to  anticipate  the  assurance  of  the  welcome  to 
you  all  by  some  future  Governor  of  the  State.  Come  to  us,  then,  as  we  have 
come  to  you  today,  with  hearts  swelling  with  pride  and  joy  that  such  a  spectacle 
and  an  occasion  as  this  can  be,  with  generous  thoughts  and  words  of  kindness 
and  good  will,  with  willing  eyes,  to  see  the  triumphs  you  have  achieved,  and 
with  ready  hands  to  help  lead  the  way  to  still  higher  paths  of  honor  for  all  our 
people. 

"In  closing,  let  me  say  that  Ohio  has  exulted  in  this  opportunity  to  do 
even  a  small  part  toward  making  this  undertaking  the  glowing  success  it  has 
proven  to  be.  It  is  our  hope  that  the  bond  between  the  States  may  grow  stronger 
year  by  year  by  reason  of  this  closer  communion.  Cordially  and  heartily  we 
accept  and  treasure  the  assurances  of  amity  that  have  been  spoken.  As  earnestly 
and  sincerely  do-  we  repeat  the  pledges  for  our  part.  I  congratulate  you  all 
upon  the  result  of  your  labors  and  wish  you  unbounded  success  and  the  utmost 
realization  of  your  hopes  in  every  way. 

"May  your  States,  strong  as  they  are  in  the  elements  that  go  so  far  to 
place  commonwealths  in  the  front  in  the  never  ending  race  for  renown  and 
reward,  gain  still  greater  fame.  May  they  in  the  years  to  come  feel  that  there 
has  been  the  same  steady  advance  and  the  same  virility  and  power  which  made 
possible  the  remarkable  results  which  are  crystallized  in  the  Exposition  that  lies 
before  us  today." 

NEW  YORK   DAY  — October  8,  1898 

A  special  train  conveyed  the  members  of  the  New  York  State  Commission, 
together  with  the  representatives  of  the  Produce  Exchange  and  other  organiza- 
tions of  New  York  City  and  State,  with  prominent  railway  officials  and  their 
guests  from  New  York  to  Omaha,  arriving  on  the  evening  of  October  7.  The 
guests  were  met  on  their  arrival  by  General  Manager  Clarkson,  and  other 
Exposition  officials,  who  conveyed  to  them  the  invitation  of  the  Board  of  Gover- 
nors of  the  Knights  of  Ak-Sar-Ben  to  attend  the  grand  Carnival  Ball  at  the 
Coliseum  on  that  evening.  Although  the  guests  were  weary  with  their  long 
journey,  many  of  them  accepted  this  invitation. 

Among  the  prominent  guests  who  came  were  the  Honorable  Chauncey  M. 
Depevv,  S.  R.  Callaway,  President  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad ;  ex-Sena- 
tor Warner  Miller,  H.  B.  Herbert,  of  the  Produce  Exchange ;  Dr.  Steward  Webb, 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  449 

Marvin  Hughitt,  and  others.  Carriages  were  provided,  and  many  of  these 
prominent  guests  were  escorted  to  the  Carnival  Ball  by  Exposition  officials. 
The  scene  of  beauty  and  brilliancy  which  met  their  gaze  as  they  entered  the 
Coliseum  caused  many  exclamations  of  pleasure  and  surprise.  Mr.  D'epew 
pronounced  the  ball  equal  in  all  its  appointments  to  any  he  had  ever  witnessed, 
and  he  derived  much  pleasure  from  meeting  many  of  the  beautiful  ladies  and 
prominent  men  that  were  in  attendance. 

Carriages  conveyed  the  visitors  from  their  hotels  to  the  Exposition  grounds 
on  the  morning  of  New  York  Day,  and  the  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium 
at  eleven  o'clock,  a.  m.,  and  consisted  of  the  following  program : 

Music Innes  Band 

Secretary  of  New  York  Commission  Jacob  Amos,  Jr.,  introduced    ex-Senator    Warner 
Miller,  who  made  a  brief  address. 

Address    President  Wattles 

Music Innes  Band 

Oration   Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew 

Music Innes  Band 

President  Wattles  spoke  as  follows : 

"With  the  distinguished  orator,  whose  name  and  fame  are  known  through- 
out the  civilized  world,  to  follow,  and  whom  you  are  impatient  to  hear,  more 
than  a  few  formal  words  of  welcome  from  me  would  be  untimely. 

"The  pleasure  of  welcoming  to  this  Exposition  the  representative  men  of 
the  great  State  of  New  York,  here  present,  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
State  of  my  nativity,  and  by  the  additional  fact  that  it  is  the  only  Eastern  State 
represented  by  a  building  on  these  grounds.  The  wealth,  intelligence  and  enter- 
prise of  its  citizens  are  illustrated  in  nearly  every  exhibit  building  here,  and 
while  this  is  primarily  a  Western  Exposition,  the  progressive  business  organiza- 
tions, the  State  officials  and  members  of  the  Assembly  were  quick  to  improve 
the  opportunity  of  advancing  the  interests  of  the  State  by  patronizing  a  worthy 
enterprise,  promoted  in  a  country  from  which  New  York  State  and  its  great 
metropolis  derive  no  small  part  of  their  ccmmerce.  For  the  management  of 
this  Exposition,  I  desire  to  express  our  appreciation  of  this  recognition  and 
assistance.  Your  building  here  has  been  a  convenient  home  for  thousands  of 
former  residents  of  your  State,  who  now  live  in  the  West.  Old  acquaintances 
have  been  revived  and  new  friendships  formed,  and  by  the  efficient  services  of 
the  Secretary  of  your  Commission  the  people  of  the  West  will  have  many 
pleasant  recollections  of  the  hospitalities  this  home  has  afforded. 

"One  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  promoters  of  this  Exposition  was  to 
bring  together  in  closer  communion  the  diversified  interests  of  the  people  of  our 
common  country.  Forty  years  ago  a  sentiment  grew  and  expanded  that  the 
interests  of  the  North  and  of  the  South  were  not  identical.  This  sectional  strife 
finally  culminated  in  the  greatest  internal  war  of  the  age.  As  we  now  look  back 


450 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


and  calmly  consider  the  causes  of  this  war,  we  are  led  to  believe  it  might  have 
been  avoided,  and  its  horrors  averted  by  a  more  perfect  understanding  between 
the  people  of  the  sections  involved.  In  later  years  the  sentiment  has  been 
expressed  in  heated  political  discussion  that  the  interests  of  the  Eastern  States, 
and  especially  of  New  York,  are  antagonistic  and  at  enmity  with  the  commercial 
and  political  interests  of  the  West.  Happily,  the  recent  contest  with  a  foreign 
foe  has  united  all  parts  of  our  common  country  and  has  taught  the  lesson  that 
its  destiny  must  not  be  dimmed  by  internal  strife.  When  Rough  Riders  of  the 
West,  under  the  gallant  leadership  of  that  matchless  commander  from  the  East, 
fought  and  fell  in  defense  of  humanity  and  our  country's  flag,  and  won  a  bril- 
liant victory  over  a  foreign  enemy,  two  most  important  lessons  were  learned: 
first,  that  the  intelligent  and  well-directed  volunteer  citizen-soldiers  of  our 

nation  are  unconquer- 
able, and,  second,  that 
all  our  citizens  are  of  the 
same  blood  and  endowed 
with  the  same  patriotic 
instincts,  whether  they 
come  from  the  plains  of 
the  West  or  the  million- 
aire homes  of  the  East. 
"We  celebrate  to- 
day the  history  and 
progress  of  the  greatest 
State,  in  wealth,  com- 
merce and  population,  of  our  Union.  We,  of  her  nativity,  look  with  pride  on  the 
galaxy  of  great  names  which  adorn  her  history.  In  statesmanship,  war,  theology, 
literature,  jurisprudence,  invention,  oratory  and  finance  her  sons  have  won  lasting 
fame.  Her  great  metropolis  is  the  commercial  center  of  the  Western  Continent. 
Through  its  business  channels  pulsates  the  commerce  of  an  empire.  Many  of  tlv-> 
great  transportation  lines,  which  have  peopled  the  Trans-Mississippi  country  with 
twenty  million  inhabitants  in  the  past  fifty  years,  are  the  product  of  the  brain 
and  the  money  of  its  financiers,  and  to  their  genius  and  daring  we  are  indebted 
for  much  of  the  magnificence,  progress  and  prosperity  illustrated  in  these  palaces 
of  art  and  science,  which  picture  a  growth  and  development  which  has  been 
unparalleled  in  history. 

"We,  who  early  emigrated  from  Eastern  States  and  experienced  for  a  time 
the  privations  cf  pioneer  life,  can  fully  appreciate  the  changes  wrought  since  the 
first  whistle  of  the  locomotive  on  the  western  prairies  was  heard.  Fifty  years 
ago  the  ground  on  which  this  building  stands  was  as  yet  public  domain,  unsur- 
veyed  and  unoccupied  save  by  Indian  tribes.  Since  then  eighty  thousand  miles 
of  railway  have  been  constructed  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Great  cities 
have  been  built  and  a  commerce  double  that  of  Spain  and  Portugal  evolved  by 
a  people  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  These  transportation  lines  have 


New  York  State  Building 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  451 

given  value  to  the  products  of  the  farm,  to  the  labor  of  the  workshop,  and  have 
brought  to  our  doors  the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  life,  and  we  most  accord 
due  credit  and  fair  legislation  to  the  great  men  who  have  provided  the  means 
and  the  genius  of  affairs  to  make  habitable  these  rich  prairies  of  the  West. 

"The  country  which  this  Exposition  represents  will  forever  be  the  granary 
of  the  nation. '  With  an  increase  of  production  in  the  next  quarter  of  a  century 
equal  to  that  of  the  past,  it  would  supply  the  necessities  of  life  for  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  world.  With  the  increase  of  population  and  wealth  and  the  higher 
civilization  which  will  come  to  this  country  within  the  lives  of  many  here 
present  today,  the  great  commerce  of  the  metropolis  of  the  nation  must  grow  and 
expand,  and  I  picture  and  prophesy  for  the  State,  whose  history  and  progress 
we  celebrate  today,  a  future  as  grand  as  its  past  has  been  important  in  moulding 
the  destiny  and  controlling  the  affairs  of  what  is  to  be  the  wealthiest,  most 
attractive  and  progressive  nation  in  the  world. 

"New  territory  has  been  added  to  our  national  domains  by  the  brilliant  vic- 
tories of  our  recent  war.  The  necessity  of  a  ship  canal,  which  shall  connect 
the  Atlantic  with  the  Pacific,  has  been  fully  demonstrated  by  recent  events.  The 
commerce  of  our  country  must  expand,  and  a  part  of  the  trade  of  the  Orient 
must  be  secured.  No  nation  can  grow  rich  and  great  by  communicating  only 
with  its  own  people,  and  we  must  look  to  the  men  of  our  metropolis  for  leader- 
ship in  extending  our  commerce  and  increasing  our  influence  with  foreign 
countries. 

"The  greatness  and  power  of  our  nation  has  within  the  past  six  months 
been  demonstrated  as  never  before.  Within  one  hundred  days,  and  with  victories 
unsurpassed  in  history,  we  defeated  at  arms  one  of  the  oldest  kingdoms  of  the 
world.  At  the  same  time  there  has  been  maintained  here  in  the  center  of  our 
territory  an  Exposition  for  the  education  and  elevation  of  our  people.  We 
have  gathered  here  many  distinguished  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  but 
with  hone  are  the  interests  and  destiny  of  the  West  more  closely  allied  than  with 
the  representatives  of  the  great  State  of  New  York  here  today.  To  you,  one 
and  all,  I  present  the  best  wishes  of  our  people.  That  our  relations,  both  busi- 
ness and  social,  may  be  increased  by  this  friendly  visit,  is  my  earnest  wish." 

The  speaker  introduced  Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  orator  of  the  day. 
Mr.  Depew  spoke  as  follows : 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  Some  years  ago,  Chicago,  the  metropolis  of  the 
West,  itself  the  most  marvelous  of  the  creations  of  the  latter  half  of.  this  won- 
derful century,  reared  upon  the  borders  of  Lake  Michigan  an  industrial  city. 
The  spirits,  whose  deeds  in  classic  and  eastern  tale  charmed  our  childhood, 
became  commonplace  mortals.  American  genius  and  modern  science  surpassed 
in  suggestion  and  execution  the  works  of  demi-gods  and  genii.  The  stately- 
palaces,  broad  avenues,  lakes  and  canals  of  this  home  of  industry  and  the  arts, 
drew  all  the  world  within  its  walls.  In  its  conception  and  administration,  the 


452  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

World's  Fair  at  Chicago  was  a  worthy  celebration  of  the  four  hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  and  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  great 
explorer. 

"Our  industrial  progress  has  been,  during  the  four  years  since  the  Chicago 
exposition,  greater  than  during  any  decade  in  our  history.  Our  resources  have 
been  developed,  our  markets  enlarged,  and  new  avenues  of  employment  opened. 
We  have,  in  greater  measure  than  ever  before,  realized  our  dream  of  producing 
in  our  own  country  everything  required  for  necessities  or  luxuries.  From  prac- 
tical independence  of  other  countries  for  the  products  of  their  fields  or  factories, 
we  have  suddenly  become  their  competitors  with  our  surplus  both  within  and 
without  their  borders. 

"The  great  benefits  which  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago  conferred  upon 
the  United  States  in  acquisition  from  foreign  countries  and  information  to 
foreign  Governments,  this  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  at  Omaha  is  vastly  to 

enhance  in  bringing  nearer  together  in  better 
understanding  of  each  other  the  different  sections 
of  our  own  country.  I  heard  Li  Hung  Chang  say, 
when  here,  that  there  were  many  provinces  in 
China,  and  many  Chinamen,  who  had  not  heard 
of  the  war  with  Japan.  The  light  of  the  nineteenth 
century  had  not  penetrated  China's  iron-clad 
isolation.  A  conflict  in  which  her  territory  was 
invaded,  her  fleet  destroyed,  her  cities  captured, 
tens  of  thousands  of  her  people  killed,  and  lands 
and  islands  she  had  held  for  centuries  wrested 
from  her  could  be  carried  and  ended  while  a  large 
part  of  her  people  were  peacefully  pursuing  their 
vocations,  ignorant  of  these  disasters  to  their 
country.  This  Exposition  has  increased  in  indus- 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  .  .  f  .  . 

trial  interest  during  every  hour  of  our  war  with 

Spain,  and  yet  every  pulsation  of  its  activities  and  every  throb  of  the  hearts, of 
its  visitors  have  been  moved  with  patriotic  prayers  for  the  success  of  our  arms 
and  intelligent  understanding  of  the  justice  of  our  cause.  We  have  carried  on  a 
war  with  a  foreign  country,  raised  and  equipped  an  army  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men,  and  a  formidable  navy,  have  won  great  victories  by  sea 
and  land,  and  yet,  though  our  interests  and  industries  are  so  intimately  con- 
nected that  a  blow  in  any  section  of  the  country  is  felt  everywhere,  this  Exposition 
has  as  serenely  continued  its  course  as  it  has  enthusiastically  celebrated  the  deeds 
of  Dewey,  Sampson,  Schley  and  Hobson  and  Miles,  Shafter  and  Merritt.  There 
could  be  no  happier  illustration  of  the  boundless  resources  of  the  United  States 
and  its  powers  for  peace  and  war.  It  demonstrates  the  versatility  of  the  Yankee 
character,  and  its  adaptability  to  circumstances.  One  thing  at  a  time  has  had  its 
day,  and  no  longer  forms  a  headline  of  the  copy-1>ook  of  the  American  boy.  Spain 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  453 

is  so  thoroughly  thrashed  with  one  hand  while  the  other  attends  with  energy  and 
efficiency  to  the  business  of  the  nation. 

"New  York  has  been  too  content  with  being  the  Empire  State,  and  with 
having  its  chief  city  the  metropolis  of  the  continent,  the  West  too  eager  for 
empire  independent  of  the  East,  the  South  living  too  much  upon  its  traditions 
and  in  its  past,  the  Pacific  slope  resting  too  serenely  upon  its  boundless  possi- 
bilities and  great  expectations.  The  war  with  Spain  has  superbly  restored  the 
sentiment  of  nationality  and  eliminated  sectional  jealousies.  But  this  Exposi- 
tion is  a  healthy  educator  for  commercial  union.  The  mission  of  peace  is  to 
develop  the  practical  side  of  patriotism.  It  is  to  teach  and  demonstrate  what 
will  promote  the  development  of  the  whole  country  and  the  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  the  whole  people. 

"The  concentrated  capital  of  the  East  is  the  fruit  of  three  hundred  years 
of  settlement  and  trade.  It  is  needed  in  the  West  for  railroads,  irrigation, 
mines,  water-power,  furnaces  and  mills.  It  furnishes  the  transportation  facili- 
ties which  transform  the  prairie  from  the  grazing  plains  of  the  buffalo  and  the 
hunting  ground  of  the  wolf,  to  the  farm,  the  homestead  and  productive  power 
in  herds  of  cattle  and  vast  fields  of  corn  and  wheat.  Its  hopeful  enterprise 
often  finds  for  it  an  untimely  grave  in  booming  towns,  unnecessary  railroads 
and  worthless  mines.  But  capital  is  both  selfish  and  intelligent.  It  never 
deserts  a  territory  because  the  investment  has  failed  through  bad  judgment.  It 
seeks  other  sources  for  profitable  employment  and  finds  its  remuneration  in 
other  and  needed  work  for  the  development  of  the  country.  Its  free-masonry 
of  fear  is  confined  by  no  boundaries  of  land  or  sea.  In  times  and  in  places  of 
panic  and  distrust,  it  disappears  and  increases  the  distress.  With  the  return  of 
confidence  it  moves  the  machinery  of  society  and  makes  possible  varied  indus- 
tries and  prosperity.  The  State  which  so  legislates  as  to  take  away  all  earning 
power  from  the  money  it  has  invited  or  borrowed,  soon  learns  that  it  has  gained 
a  temporary  advantage  and  lost  its  credit,  which  is  the  most  fruitful  source  of 
profit  and  prosperity.  Difference  between  the  East  and  the  West  have  been 
due  to  distance,  misunderstanding  and  demagogues.  For  a  time  the  sections 
were  daily  becoming  more  widely  separated.  The  West  was  encouraged  to 
believe  that  it  was  plundered  by  usurers  and  extortionists  in  the  East,  and  the 
East  learned  to  distrust  the  integrity  and  intentions  of  the  West.  Far-sighted 
citizens  of  the  prairie  and  mountain  States  knew  that  the  resources  of  this  wide 
territory  had  scarcely  been  touched.  Drouth  can  be  defeated  by  the  ditch.  Mil- 
lions of  acres  from  which  the  homesteader  has  fled  in  despair,  and  millions  more 
known  as  the  Great  American  Desert,  are  to  become,  through  storage  reservoirs 
and  irrigation,  fruitful  farms,  thriving  settlements  and  happy  homes. 

"Education  is  the  remedy  for  our  troubles.  The  school  is  the  preparatory 
department  of  the  college,  and  the  college  fits  boys  for  the  greater  universities 
of  the  world.  The  school  and  the  college  teach,  they  can  not  educate.  The  col- 
legian can  become  as  narrow  as  his  village  playmate  who  graduated  at  the  com- 
mon school  if  both  remain  for  their  life  work  in  the  isolated  environment  of 


454  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

these  local  conditions,  prejudices  and  misconceptions.  Both  of  them  come  to 
this  Exposition.  The  encircling-  horizon  which  made  coincident  their  physical 
and  intellectual  vision  expands  with  their  minds  and  embraces  States  and  cities, 
arts  and  industries.  They  see  the  vastness  and  independence  of  our  internal 
commerce.  They  learn  that  the  more  intelligently  selfish  any  business  may  be, 
the  more  patriotically  it  encourages  every  other  industry  and  contributes  to  the 
general  weal.  The  solution  of  the  century-vexing  problem  of  capital  and  labor 
grows  simpler.  They  see  that  even  a  railroad  president  may  be  a  public- 
spirited  citizen  without  betraying  the  interests  or  lessening  the  business  of  his 
company;  and  that  the  money  power  is  the  concentration  of  the  capital  of  the 
many  at  convenient  centers  of  financial  operations  and  contact  with  the  world, 
where  it  lies  idle  and  useless  in  times  of  distrust,  but  is  easily  drawn  to  the 
beneficent  purposes  and  productive  energies  of  the  community  which  can  give  it 
profitable  employment.  Those  from  large  cities  learn  that  New  York  and  Boston, 
Philadelphia  and  Chicago  are  marts  of  trade,  not  places  of  power.  The  country 
feeds  and  recruits  them.  They  reflect  and  do  not  originate  the  conditions  and 
opinions  of  the  Republic.  The  untraveled  city  man  is  the  most  provincial  of 
mortals.  His  local  pride  paralyzes  his  powers  of  observation,  and  the  rest  of  the 
universe  exists  only  for  his  benefit  and  by  his  permission.  The  West  is  an 
unknown  land  of  grazing  plains,  mining  camps,  and  big  game.  But  he  finds 
here  the  broadest  culture  of  the  schools  and  colleges,  a  vigorous  and  healthy 
public  sentiment,  the  courage  to  try  and  the  ability  to  utilize  every  invention 
which  will  increase  the  productive  power  and  decrease  the  cost  of  operating 
the  farm,  the  forest,  the  manufactory  and  the  mine.  Thus  the  broader  education 
brings  into  contact  and  activity  all  the  elements  of  our  strength  and  growth. 
Self-centered  satisfaction  is  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  mental,  moral  or 
material  growth. 

"Foreign  cities  say  Americans  boast  of  the  bigness  of  their  country.  There 
is  no  use  denying  the  fact,  we  are  big.  We  are  not  too  large  for  a  destiny 
never  so  manifest  as  today.  Cuba  is  under  our  protection  and  certain  to  come 
under  our  flag  by  the  vote  of  the  people.  Ports  Rico  is  ours ;  our  foothold 
in  the  Philippines  will  never  be  surrendered,  and  the  markets  in  the  far  East 
are  inviting  us  to  compete  with  the  nations  of  Europe  for  their  trade.  Big  as  we 
are,  the  future  is  bigger  with  duties,  responsibilities  and  opportunities  for  our 
citizens.  The  sentimentalist  declares  that  such  a  review  as  has  occupied  our 
hour  today  is  the  grossest  materialism.  After  years  of  experiment  and  observa- 
tion I  have  found  that  sentiment  has  less  alloy,  is  purer,  and  attains  loftier  ideals 
under  a  well  thatched  roof,  than  on  the  sod ;  under  storms  as  well  as  sunshine, 
and  with  drenching  clouds  as  well  as  stars  above.  'What  makes  a  hero  in  bat- 
tles?' I  inquired  of  a  veteran,  the  victor  on  many  a  bloody  field.  His  answer 
was,  'Plenty  of  good  beef  or  mutton  and  hot  coffee.' 

"When  Nebraska  has  reached  the  age  of  New  York  there  will  be  a  popula- 
tion of  over  two  hundred  millions  in  the  I'nited  States.  Our  domain  will  be 
sufficient  for  their  support,  and  our  institutions  elastic  enough  for  their  orderly 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  455 

government  and  their  liberty.  Intelligence  will  be  keen  and  high,  and  the  State 
will  be  very  close  to  the  daily  life  and  industrial  activities  of  the  people.  Co-opera- 
tion will  be  working  to  an  extent  now  thought  chimerical.  There  will  be 
always  differences  of  conditions  as  God  has  endowed  His  children  with  degrees 
of  gifts,  but  the  much  abused  doctrine  that  the  world  owes  every  man  a  living 
will  be  in  general  vogue  and  practice.  The  lazy,  the  shiftless  and  the  improvident 
will  grumble  and  suffer  then  as  now,  but  there  will  be  a  place  for  all  according 
to  the  talents  bestowed  upon  them,  and  wisely  perfected  plans  for  the  care 
and  comfort  of  the  aged  and  helpless. 

"The  war  with  Spain  had  unified  our  country.  The  sons  of  the  South  and 
the  North,  fighting  side  by  side,  and  under  the  old  flag,  have  effaced  the  last 
vestige  of  the  passions  of  the  Civil  War.  The  young  men  of  the  farthest  West 
and  its  primitive  conditions  lying  with  their  comrades  from  the  circles  of  the 
clubs  and  fashion  in  the  East,  in  the  trenches  of  El  Caney,  and  charging  up 
the  hill  and  over  the  defenses  of  San  Juan  have  made  the  men  of  the  West 
and  the  East  one  by  the  baptism  of  blood.  Whether  from  the  plains  of  Arizona 
or  the  palaces  of  New  York,  and  whether  dressed  in  broadcloth  or  in  buckskin, 
the  rough-rider  is  the  same  American. 

"Venerable  New  York  sends  hail  and  cordial  congratulations  to  young 
Nebraska.  Our  settlement  is  two  hundred  and  forty,  and  our  sovereignty  ninety 
years  older  than  yours.  Three  centuries  of  development,  under  original  conditions 
and  free  institutions,  greet  this  half  century  of  the  West  from  the  appointed 
savage  to  the  industrious  citizen  with  the  past  and  present  full  of  cheer  and 
hope.  First  among  the  States  of  the  Republic  in  population,  prosperity,  educa- 
tional institutions,  churches,  productive  power  and  wealth,  and  commanding  the 
resources  of  the  continent  through  her  metropolis,  the  second  city  of  the  world, 
New  York  owes  it  all  to  American  liberty  and  opportunity.  It  is  her  pride  and 
pleasure  to  attract  and  welcome  the  citizens  of  all  the  sister  States.  The  people 
of  the  South,  the  West  and  the  Pacific,  have  found  hospitable  homes  in  the 
Empire  State  in  numbers  greater  than  the  population  of  many  cities  in  those 
sections.  These  fraternal  ties  intertwining  with  the  bonds  of  patriotism  and 
common  interest  bind  our  States  together  in  one  indissoluble  Union,  and  make 
us  all  one  people,  of  one  country  and  under  one  flag." 

Immediately  after  the  exercises,  a  luncheon  was  served  at  the  Markel  Cafe. 
Among  those  present  were  the  following : 

Chauncey  M.  Depew,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Board  of  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad ;  S.  R.  Callaway,  President,  New  York  Central  Railroad ;  Dr. 
Seward  Webb,  Marvin  Hughitt,  W.  H.  Newman  and  W.  E.  Eby.  Representing 
the  New  York  Produce  Exchange,  the  following  gentlemen :  Frank  Brainard, 
F.  H.  Andrews,  John  Valient,  Frank  Commisky,  J.  W.  Ahles,  John  Gledhill, 
E.  A.  Allen,  W.  E.  Truesdale,  E.  H.  Dougherty,  Daniel  T.  Wade,  S.  T.  Graff. 
Representing  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce:  Warner  Miller,  Charles 
A.  Schieren,  Francis  B.  Thurber,  Richard  Young,  Henry  A.  Spaulding,  D.  S. 
Ramser.  From  Buffalo:  Captain  J.  M.  Brinker,  F.  C.  M.  Lantz,  R.  C.  Hill, 


456  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

A.  C.  Essenwein,  Major  G.  Creighton  Webb,  F.  D.  Higbee,  E.  W.  Curtis,  Jr., 
and  D.  Van  Aken. 

The  afternoon  was  spent  in  viewing  the  exhibits  and  witnessing  the  Indian 
sham  battle.  In  the  evening  a  banquet  was  given  at  the  Omaha  Club  to  the 
distinguished  guests  by  the  former  residents  of  New  York  State,  now  living  in 
Omaha.  Hon.  E.  M.  Bartlett,  of  Omaha,  acted  as  toastmaster,  and  many  of 
Omaha's  prominent  citizens  were  present.  Rev.  S.  Wright  Butler  responded  to 
the  toast,  "Our  Guests,"  in  a  most  happy  manner,  eliciting  great  applause  for  his 
wit  and  humor.  Hon.  John  L.  Webster  responded  to  the  toast,  "What  Are  We 
Here  For?"  Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  in  his  characteristic,  happy  vein,  spoke 
to  the  sentiment,  "New  Yorkers."  General  John  C.  Cowin  responded  to  the  toast, 
"Westward  the  Course  of  Empire  Takes  Its  Way."  Senator  Warner  Miller, 
"The  Nicaragua!!  Canal."  Senator  W.  E.  Corwine,  of  the  New  York  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  "Relations  Between  the  West  and  the  East."  J.  H.  Metcalf, 
of  Buffalo,  "The  Pan-American  Exposition."  President  Wattles,  "The 
Trans-Mississippi  Exposition."  Hon.  E.  Rosewater,  "The  Press."  Hon.  F.  B. 
Thurber,  "Foreign  Commercial  Relations."  Judge  Wakely  closed  the  speaking 
with  a  toast  of  "Rip  Van  Winkle,"  applied  to  the  guests  from  the  Empire  State, 
"Here's  to  your  health  and  that  of  your  families ;  may  you  live  long  and 
prosper." 

JUBILEE   WEEK 
October  10  to  15  inclusive,  1898 

Jubilee  week  was  the  crowning  week  in  historical  importance  during  the 
Exposition,  and  as  such  has  been  given  consideration  in  Part  I,  Chapter  III,  of 
this  history,  which  treats  of  the  historical  events  of  the  Exposition.  Its  historical 
importance  had  its  relation  not  only  to  the  Exposition,  as  such,  but  will  pass 
down  into  history  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  epochs  in  the  annals  of  the 
West.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International 
Exposition  originated  in  the  midst  of  trial  and  tribulation  that  tested  the  courage, 
energy  and  combative  qualities  of  the  strongest  men  in  the  western  territory. 
Unprecedented  drouth  for  a  period  of  years  previous  to  the  inception  of  the 
proposition  had  reduced  the  products  of  the  soil,  and  thereby  curtailed  the  com- 
merce of  the  territory  to  such  a  degree  that  bankruptcy  stared  every  interest 
from  that  of  the  farmer  to  that  of  the  manufacturer,  in  the  face,  but  under  the 
motto,  "The  true  benefactor  of  mankind  is  he  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  only  one  grew  before,"  coupled  with  the  motto,  "Nothing  succeeds 
like  success,"  these  sturdy  captains  of  industry,  the  Executive  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means,  the  late  Edward  Rosewater,  of  the  Department  of  Pub- 
licity, Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock,  of  the  Department  of  Promotion ,  Freeman  P. 
Kirkendall,  of  the  Department  of  Buildings  and  Grounds ,  Abram  L.  Reed,  of 
the  Department  of  Exhibits,  William  N.  Babcock,  of  the  Department  of  Trans- 
portation, with  President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles  at  the  head,  and  his  strong  hand 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  457 

on  the  helm,  and  Secretary  John  A.  Wakefield,  in  charge  of  the  records, 
forged  ahead,  waving  aside  all  objectors,  critics,  pessimists  and  obstructors, 
much  as  a  giant  snow  plow  on  a  great  railway  would  drive  through  the  heavy 
drifts  that  obstructed  traffic  for  the  time  being;  and  out  of  it  came  this  great 
Exposition.  But,  after  much  of  the  difficulty  had  been  overcome,  the  war  with 
Spain  broke  upon  the  horizon,  which  great  event  in  history  was  begun,  waged 
and  ended,  during  these  trying  days  of  the  creation  of  this  Exposition.  The 
necessary  appropriation  of  Congress,  for  the  Government  building,  and  the 
Government  exhibit  was  imperiled,  as  was  likewise  the  appropriations  from 
many  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  States,  but  when,  on  that  memorable  Fourth  day 
of  July  of  the  Exposition  period,  when  the  multitudes  were  celebrating  the 
birthday  of  our  nation  on  the  Exposition  grounds,  as  they  had  never  celebrated 
before,  the  telegram  was  received  and  read  to  the  multitude,  announcing  the 
destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet,  under  Cervera,  by  our  naval  fleet  under  Samp- 
son and  Schley,  coupled  with  that  other  telegram  received  on  the  same  day 
and  at  almost  the  same  hour,  announcing  the  ultimatum  of  unconditional  sur- 
render of  the  Spanish  armies,  submitted  by  General  Shafter,  the  end  of  the 
brief  war  was  thus  proclaimed,  and  the  Jubilee  week  of  the  Exposition  imme- 
diately planned.  The  presence  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  with  his 
cabinet,  and  the  diplomatic  corps,  was  essential  to  meet  the  magnitude  of  the 
importance  of  the  event,  and  negotiations  were  immediately  entered  upon.  The 
week  beginning  October  10,  1898,  and  ending  October  15,  1898,  was  fixed  for 
the  great  event.  Every  detail  was  so  carefully  worked  out  that  not  a  moment's 
delay  occurred  in  carrying  out  the  program  of  the  week  at  the  appointed  time. 
Monday,  October  10,  was  designated  as  Mayors'  Day;  Tuesday,  October  n, 
as  Governors'  Day;  Wednesday,  October  12,  as  President's  Day;  Thursday, 
October  13,  as  Army  and  Navy  Day;  Friday,  October  14,  as  Civil  Government 
Day;  Saturday,  October  15,  as  Children's  Day.  The  programs  and  descriptions 
of  the  ceremonies  of  these  various  days  have  been  recorded  in  their  appropriate 
place  in  Part  I,  Chapter  III,  of  this  History. 

GOVERNORS'   DAY  AT   OMAHA  EXPOSITION  —  October  11,  1898 

Address  of  Alva  M.  Adams,  Governor  of  Colorado : 

"With  forty-eight  States  and  Territories,  not  counting  the  uncounted  island 
possessions  of  our  flag,  governors  are  so  plenty  that  their  dignity  and  impor- 
tance makes  but  little  impress  to  the  sight-seer  who  pays  his  fifty  cents  admission. 
Geronimo  and  his  Indians,  or  a  long-haired  "Bill"  from  the  mountains,  is  a 
greater  sight  than  the  chief  executive  of  a  new  State.  Democracy  does  not 
exalt  its  servants.  It  is  well  that  it  is  so,  as  governors  are  transient — they  come 
and  go — but  the  state  and  nation  go  on  forever.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  Republic 
that  it  is  the  people  and  not  the  official  that  gives  true  dignity  and  power  to 
our  Government.  As  the  people,  so  the  nation.  The  Governor  is  but  an  incident, 
and  fortunate  if  he  can  add  a  single  sentence  to  the  history  of  liberty  that  is  being 


458 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Alva  Adams, 
Governor  of  Colorado 


James  H.  Budd, 
Governor  of  California 


William  P.  Lord, 
Governor  of  Oregon 


woven  by  the  American  people.  Since  Independence  Bell  proclaimed,  at  Phila- 
delphia, the  birth  of  a  new  nation,  we  have  been  driven  by  the  imperious  whip 
of  progress.  This  Exposition  is  the  last  milestone  in  the  pathway  of  advance- 
ment. It  is  an  object  lesson  that  tells  the  world  that  there  has  been  no  halting 
in  the  march  of  growth  and  evolution.  This  is  best  because  the  latest.  It 
eclipses  its  past  as  the  next  exposition  will  eclipse  this.  Tomorrow  ever  holds 
a  surprise  for  the  man  of  today.  If  children  were  not  wiser  than  their  parents 
and  the  new  not  better  than  the  old,  progress  would  be  a  myth  and  civilization 
a  delusion.  As  heirs  of  the  past  it  is  for  this  generation  to  place  its  feet  upon 
higher  ground  than  yet  pressed  by  the  race.  Growth  is  the  obligation  that  rests 
upon  every  mortal.  From  Darwin's  ape  to  the  American  citizen  is  a  long 
distance,  but  it  has  been  traveled.  It  is  a  long  road  from  the  forge  of  Tubal 
Cain  to  the  Carnegie  steel  works,  from  the  primitive  methods  of  Abraham  to 
the  multiplied  wants  and  supply  of  today,  from  the  sling  of  David  to  the  Krupp 
cannon  and  the  perfected  Winchester,  from  the  rude  weaving  of  the  Indian 
maiden  to  the  cotton  and  woolen  mills  of  the  present.  These  contrasts  are 
exemplified  in  this  exhibition,  and  they  are  a  rich  lesson  of  hope  and  encourage- 
ment to  every  American.  Here  art  shows  her  triumphs  and  mechanical  genius 
its  victories.  The  rude  stone  where  two  women  ground  the  corn  has  given  way 
to  the  Washburn  mills,  the  pointed  stick  to  the  gang  plow,  the  flail  and  the 
tramping  cattle  to  the  steam  thresher,  the  sickle  to  the  harvester.  Why  mul- 
tiply illustrations?  They  are  everywhere  upon  these  grounds,  and  should  inspire 
new  strength  and  courage  for  another  long  step  forward  to  that  hour  when 
every  man  that  toils  shall  receive  the  full  and  due  product  of  his  labor,  when 
justice  will  reign.  The  mission  of  the  age  is  to  plant  ever  new  moral  and 
intellectual  frontiers,  to  broaden  the  horizon  of  human  happiness.  If  we  can 
not  raise  the  average,  if  we  can  not  lift  the  masses,  then  will  this  Exposition  be 
a  failure,  and  our  talk  but  tinkling  cymbals,  our  work  the  building  of  Babel 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


459 


Reinhold  Sadler, 
Governor  of  Nevada 


Frank  A.  Briggs, 
Governor  of  North  Dakota 


Silas  A.  Holcomb, 
Governor  of  Nebraska 


towers.  Expositions  are  not  alone  shows — they  are  universities  as  well.  Size 
is  not  always  or  often  a  standard  of  excellence.  The  caravels  of  Columbus  meas- 
ured but  sixty  tons,  the  Mayflower  but  a  hundred — yet  they  carried  the  destiny  of 
the  world  and  the  seed  of  this  nation.  This  Exposition  is  not  as  large  as  the 
World's  Fair  of  1893,  but  it  has  new  features  of  beauty,  new  testimonials  of 
national  power  and  growth.  Then  it  is  Western,  and  some  of  us  love  it  the 
more  because  it  reflects  the  West.  We  are  loyal  to  the  Union.  We  are  ready 
to  defend  every  one  over  which  floats  the  flag,  whether  upon  the  continent  or 
the  islands  of  the  sea ;  but  there  is  special  satisfaction  over  the  prosperity  and 
achievement  of  the  region  in  which  our  home  is  planted.  Our  origin  is  the 
same,  as  we  are  each  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  This  exhibit  reflects 
the  greatness  of  the  empire  which  the  statesmanship  of  Jefferson  gave  to 
liberty  and  civilization. 

"Would  that  the  spirits  of  Fisher  Ames,  Daniel  Webster  and  Josiah 
Quincy  might  wander  through  the  avenues  and  aisles  of  this  Exposition,  which 
has  sprung  from  the  bosom  of  that  desert,  which  their  eloquence  painted  in 
such  forbidding  colors.  They  were  great  men  but  poor  prophets.  The  stone 
they  would  have  rejected  has  become  the  keystone  in  the  arch  of  national 
power  and  greatness. 

"Many  provincial  friends  in  the  Eastern  States  have  held  Ames,  Webster 
and  Quincy  as  authority  upon  the  West.  The  splendid  audacity  of  Omaha  in 
creating  this  Exposition  has  levied  upon  our  gratitude.  It  has  been  a  revela- 
tion to  the  self-centered  Yankees ;  they  now  realize  that  the  Mississippi  River  is 
not  the  western  limit  of  the  Republic,  and  that  the  laws  of  gravitation  are  not 
suspended  west  of  the  Missouri. 

"I  am  not  sure  but  what  the  typical  American  is  to  be  developed  upon 
the  prairies  or  in  the  mountain  valleys  of  this  new  land.  The  charm  of  adven- 
ture, romance  and  opportunity  has  led  the  active  daring  spirits  of  every  land 


460 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Andrew  E.  Lee, 
Governor  of  South  Dakota 


W.  A.  Richards, 
Governor  of  Wyoming 


Leslie  M.  Shaw, 
Governor  of  Iowa 


and  State  into  the  West,  and  here  these  many  elements  of  ftianhood  are  being 
woven  into  a  strong,  vigorous,  homogeneous  citizenship.  Under  clearer 
skies,  with  a  broad  horizon,  closer  to  nature,  no  Westerner  may  be  careless 
of  the  conventionalities ;  untrammeled  by  tradition,  he  is  free  to  grasp  the  best  in 
the  past  as  material  from  which  to  mould  a  new,  perhaps  an  original,  civiliza- 
tion. The  Western  man  is  the  restless  migratory  son  of  other  States  and  coun- 
tries ;  many  of  us  are  but  Eastern  men  with  a  wider  experience — our  view 
covers  the  nation.  We  admit  equality,  but  in  average  attainments  concede  no 
superiority.  In  cemeteries  and  in  cherished  prejudices,  we  can  not  compete 
with  the  East ;  but  in  fealty  and  pride  of  country,  we  are  their  brothers.  The 
men  of  the  West  think  more  of  posterity  than  of  ancestors.  Like  Cicero,  they 
hope  to  be  the  founder  of  a  family.  They  do  not  point  to  the  achievements  of 
their  fathers,  but  to  their  own.  They  do  not  go  out  to  God's  Acre  to  read  their 
family  standing  graven  upon  the  crumbling  tombstones  of  five  or  more 
generations.  Good  or  bad,  their  position  is  due  to  their  own  efforts.  If  the 
West  has  an  aristocracy,  it  is  based  upon  deeds,  not  ancestors. 

"Having  less  wealth  and  leisure,  the  West  may  be  less  refined,  but  in 
manly  qualities,  in  sterling  manhood,  they  are  not  deficient.  A  rough  exterior 
may  hide  the  courage  of  a  Richard,  and  a  chivalry  as  fine  as  ever  animated  a  knight 
may  bloom  in  the  heart  of  plainsman  and  mountaineer.  The  civilizing  value 
of  a  dress  suit  may  not  impress  them,  but  in  genuine  manly  qualities  they  are 
strong.  Their  purse  is  open  to  misfortune,  their  friendship  and  sympathy  go 
to  those  who  need ;  kindly  and  generous,  yet  holding  a  nerve  and  a  courage 
that  is  not  slow  to  avenge  every  wrong. 

"The  idols  of  savagery  have  been  thrown  down  in  the  West,  new  altars 
have  been  reared ;  but  upon  them  new  ideas  and  new  faiths  have  not  been  placed. 
Liberty,  truth  and  patriotism  here  find  a  genial  soil. 

"Art  and  luxury  are  the  growing  pride  of  the  rich,  but  this  tendency  is 
not  strong  in  the  West.  We  have  them,  but  only  as  feathers  to  the  arrows  of 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  461 

our  growing  power.  This  Exposition  demonstrates  that  it  is  the  material  ele- 
ments that  measure  our  progress.  The  product  of  mine,  forge  and  clanging 
shops  are  the  gauge  of  power.  If  the  golden  age  is  ever  to  come  it  will  be 
under  a  crown  of  iron.  This  panorama  of  native  wealth  startles  the  Ameri- 
can as  well  as  the  foreign  visitor.  It  wins  the  admiration  of  the  stranger  and 
fortifies  the  faith  of  the  citizen.  We  do  not  realize  the  greatness  of  our 
country.  We  have  not  been  daring  enough  to  grasp  the  present,  still  less  our 
sublime  destiny.  Though  but  the  logical  lesson  from  our  history,  the  result 
of  the  recent  war  was  a  revelation.  It  gave  our  flag  standing  abroad ;  it 
inspired  confidence  at  home;  it  made  Yankee  Doodle  a  classic  in  many  lands;  it 
gave  us  faith  in  our  own  sons.  Hereafter  we  need  not  go  to  Homer  or  to  the 
records  of  chivalry  for  brave  deeds.  The  heroism  of  our  own  sons  gives  material 
for  song  and  story ;  the  charges  of  our  soldiers  at  Manila  and  Santiago,  the 
skill  of  our  sailors  upon  their  ships,  are  elements  of  national  power  that  sup- 
plement our  mines  of  gold  and  far-stretching  fields  of  waving  harvest.  Charac- 
ter is  a  greater  asset  than  wealth.  America  has  both,  and  it  is  a  Union  of 
strength  that  is  invincible.  American  valor  is  not  local.  Sons  of  East 
and  West,  North  and  South,  were  alike  brave,  alike  willing  to  sacrifice  for 
country.  There  was  no  rivalry,  save  in  competition  to  see  who  could  first  risk 
his  life  for  the  flag.  In  this  conflict  there  was  no  disappointment,  except  when 
unable  to  be  first  at  the  front.  Only  a  great  people  are  worthy  such  sons.  To 
be  an  American  today  is  to  realize  the  thrill  that  the  soldier  of  Caesar  felt  when 
he  declared  himself  a  Roman  citizen. 

"With  such  valiant  sons  to  guard,  with  such  a  material  future  as  this 
Exposition  prophesies,  we  may  well  be  proud  of  our  land.  The  achievements 
here  demonstrated  press  upon  us  the  fact  that  the  possibilities  of  soil,  factory 
and  mine  are  many  times  our  power  of  consumption.  These  embarrassments 
of  riches  should  inspire  the  wise  statesman  to  seek  new  markets.  As  trade  fol- 
lows the  flag,  does  not  patriotic  selfishness  as  well  as  humanity  impel  us  to 
insist  that  where  the  sacrifice  of  soldier  and  sailor  have  planted  the  flag — there 
it  must  stay." 

PRESIDENT'S   DAY  — October  12,  1898 

Address  of  President  Gurdon  W.  Wattles : 

"Our  hearts  are  filled  with  gratitude  and  thanksgiving  today  because  of 
the  welcome  return  of  peace  to  our  nation.  We  meet  to  celebrate  the  victories 
of  our  arms  and  to  rejoice  that  the  clouds  of  war  have  passed  and  that  the  sun- 
beams of  peace  again  bathe  our  beloved  land.  I  voice  the  sentiment  of  all 
inhabitants  of  our  country  in  expressions  of  welcome  and  heartfelt  greetings  to 
our  beloved  President,  our  honored  guest  today.  If  I  could  gather  from  the 
hearts  of  our  people  the  love  and  adoration  they  feel  for  him,  and  present  it, 
like  sweet  flowers  in  tangible  form,  I  might  in  a  faint  degree  offer  a  welcome 
worthy  of  the  occasion.  Words  fail  to  express  and  language  can  not  convey 
the  joy  and  gratitude  we  feel  that  the  President  of  this  great  nation,  accom- 
panied by  members  of  his  cabinet,  by  representatives  of  foreign  countries,  by 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


great  generals  of  the  army  and  officers  of  the  navy,  and  by  many  others  distin- 
guished in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  have  come  to  join  with  us  in  this  celebration. 

"At  no  more  fitting  place  than  here  in  the  center  of  our  territory,  sur- 
rounded by  such  magnificent  evidences  of  the  arts  of  peace,  could  this  celebra- 
tion be  held.  No  better  illustration  of  the  greatness  and  power  of  our  people 
can  be  found  than  the  demonstration  here  made.  During  the  progress  of  our 
recent  war  we  have  been  celebrating  here  the  triumphs  and  achievements  of  our 
people  in  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  the  principal  industries  of  the  nation. 

"Aided  by  generous  legislation  of  Congress,  the  departments  of  State  and  the 
functions  of  our  Government  have  been  illustrated  in  the  beautiful  building 
which  adorns  the  Court  of  Honor  of  this  Exposition.  By  the  same  beneficent 
legislation  a  Congress  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  which  once  inhabited  this  region, 


John  Hay, 
Secretary  of  State 


Lyman  J.  Gage, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury 


James  Wilson, 
Secretary  of  Agriculture 


has  been  assembled  on  these  grounds.  These  representatives  of  a  fast-fading 
race,  which  for  many  years  contested  by  war  and  massacre  the  westward  march 
of  civilization,  now  dwell  in  peace  and  contentment  and  daily  celebrate  their 
rites  and  victories,  surrounded  by  the  triumphs  of  civilization. 

"The  people  of  the  North  and  the  South  have  mingled  here  and  have 
pledged  anew  the  patriotism  and  love  which  now  binds  with  bonds  of  steel  all 
sections  of  their  common  country.  With  the  inspiring  music  of  'Dixie'  and 
The  Star-Spangled  Banner,'  they  have  celebrated  together  under  the  stars 
and  stripes  of  a  united  nation  each  victory  of  her  arms  on  land  and  sea. 

"With  peace,  prosperity,  happiness  and  contentment  throughout  the  land 
we  meet  to  rejoice  and  celebrate  the  triumphs  of  our  arms  in  a  war  waged  for 
humanity.  All  honor  to  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  who,  with  bravery  and 
valor  unknown  to  history,  defeated  with  signal  victories  our  foreign  foe.  All 
praise  to  their  gallant  commanders,  who  led  the  way  and  planted  the  stars  and 


464 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Cornelius  P.  Bliss 


Whitelaw  Reid 


William  R.  Day 


stripes  on  distant  isles  as  a  symbol  of  liberty  and  love,  which  will  forever 
guarantee  the  blessings  of  freedom  and  of  God.  All  hail  to  the  chief,  who, 
inspired  by  the  God  of  pity,  love  and  justice,  proclaimed  that  cruelty  and  oppres- 
sion could  not  longer  be  tolerated  and  must  forever  be  banished  from  the  isles 
along  our  shores.  All  hail  to  the  chief  who  sent  to  a  suffering  people  the  aid 
of  a  mighty  nation.  All  hail  to  our  President,  our  guest  and  our  ruler.  Hail ! 
Hail !" 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  WILLIAM  McKINLEY 
President  McKinley  spoke  as  follows : 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  and  Fellow  Citizens :  It  is 
with  genuine  pleasure  that  I  meet  once  more  the  people  of  Omaha,  whose 
wealth  of  welcome  is  not  altogether  unfamiliar  to  me  and  whose  warm  hearts 
have  before  touched  and  moved  me.  For  this  renewed  manifestation  of  your 
regard  and  for  the  cordial  reception  of  today  my  heart  responds  with  profound 
gratitude  and  a  deep  appreciation  which  I  can  not  conceal,  and  which  the 
language  of  compliment  is  inadequate  to  convey.  My  greeting  is  not  alone  to 
your  city  and  the  State  of  Nebraska,  but  to  the  people  of  all  the  States  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  group  participating  here,  and  I  can  not  withhold  congratula- 
tions on  the  evidences  of  their  prosperity  furnished  by  this  great  Exposition.  If 
testimony  were  needed  to  establish  the  fact  that  their  pluck  has  not  deserted 
them  and  that  prosperity  is  again  with  them  it  is  found  here.  This  picture 
dispels  all  doubt. 

"In  an  age  of  expositions  they  have  added  yet  another  magnificent  example. 
The  historical  celebrations  at  Philadelphia  and  Chicago,  and  the  splendid  exhibits 
at  New  Orleans,  Atlanta  and  Nashville  are  now  a  part  of  the  past,  and  yet  in 
influence  they  still  live,  and  their  beneficent  results  are  closely  interwoven  with 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  465 

our  nation  development.  Similar  rewards  will  honor  the  authors  and  patrons 
of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition.  Their  contribution  will 
mark  another  epoch  in  the  nation's  material  advancement. 

"One  of  the  great  laws  of  life  is  progress,  and  nowhere  have  the  principles 
of  this  law  been  so  strikingly  illustrated  as  in  the  United  States.  A  century  and 
a  decade  of  our  national  life  have  turned  doubt  into  conviction ;  changed  experi- 
ment into  demonstration ;  revolutionized  old  methods  and  won  new  triumphs 
which  have  challenged  the  attention  of  the  world.  This  is  true  not  only  of  the 
accumulation  of  material  wealth  and  advance  in  education,  science,  invention 
and  manufactures,  but  above  all  in  the  opportunities  to  the  people  for  their 
own  elevation  which  have  been  secured  by  wise  free  government. 

"Hitherto,  in  peace  and  in  war,  with  additions  to  our  territory  and  slight 
changes  in  our  laws,  we  have  steadily  enforced  the  spirit  of  the  constitution 
secured  to  us  by  the  noble  self-sacrifice  and  far-seeing  sagacity  of  our  ancestors. 
We  have  avoided  the  temptations  of  conquest  in  the  spirit  of  gain.  With  an 
increasing  love  for  our  institutions  and  an  abiding  faith  in  their  stability,  we 
have  made  the  triumphs  of  our  system  of  government  in  the  progress  and 
prosperity  of  our  people  an  inspiration  to  the  whole  human  race.  Confronted 
at  this  moment  by  new  and  grave  problems,  we  must  recognize  that  their  solution 
will  affect  not  ourselves  alone  but  others  of  the  family  of  nations. 

"In  this  age  of  frequent  interchange  and  mutual  dependency,  we  can  not 
shirk  our  international  responsibilities  if  we  would ;  they  must  be  met  with 


George  Gray,  U.  S.  Court  J.  N.  Griggs,  U.  S.  Attorney-General 

courage  and  wisdom  and  we  must  follow  duty  even  if  desire  opposes.  No 
deliberation  can  be  too  mature,  or  self-control  too  constant,  in  this  solemn  hour 
of  our  history.  We  must  avoid  the  temptation  of  undue  aggression,  and  aim  to 
secure  only  such  results  as  will  promote  our  own  and  the  general  good. 


466  Trails-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

"It  has  been  saicl  by  someone  that  the  normal  condition  of  nations  is  war. 
That  is  not  true  of  the  United  States.  We  never  enter  upon  war  until  every 
effort  for  peace  without  it  has  been  exhausted.  Ours  has  never  been  a  military 
government.  Peace,  with  whose  blessings  we  have  been  so  singularly  favored,  is 
the  national  desire,  and  the  goal  of  every  American  aspiration. 

"On  the  25th  of  April,  for  the  first  time  for  more  than  a  generation,  the 
United  States  sounded  the  call  to  arms.  The  banners  of  war  were  unfurled; 
the  best  and  bravest  from  every  section  responded ;  a  mighty  army  was  enrolled ; 
the  North  and  the  South  vied  with  each  other  in  patriotic  devotion ;  science  was 
invoked  to  furnish  its  most  effective  weapons ;  factories  were  rushed  to  supply 
equipment;  the  youth  and  the  veteran  joined  in  freely  offering  their  services 

to  their  country ;  volunteers  and  regulars  and  all 
the  people  rallied  to  the  support  of  the  Republic. 
There  was  no  break  in-  the  line,  no  halt  in  the 
march,  no  fear  in  the  heart.  No  resistance  to  the 
patriotic  impulse  at  home,  no  successful  resistance 
to  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  troops  fighting  in 
distant  waters  or  on  a  foreign  shore ! 

"What  a  wonderful  experience  it  has  been 
from  the  standpoint  of  patriotism  and  achieve- 
ment !  The  storm  broke  so  suddenly  that  it  was 
here  almost  before  we  realized  it.  Our  navy  was 
too  small,  though  forceful  with  its  modern  equip- 
ment and  most  fortunate  in  its  trained  officers  and 

President  McKinley 

sailors.     Our  army  had  years  ago  been   reduced 

to  a  peace  footing.  We  had  only  nineteen  thousand  available  troops  when  the 
war  was  declared,  but  the  account  which  officers  and  men  gave  of  themselves 
on  the  battlefields  has  never  been  surpassed.  The  manhood  was  there  and 
everywhere.  American  patriotism  was  there  and  its  resources  were  limitless. 
The  courageous  and  invincible  spirit  of  the  people  proved  glorious,  and  those 
who  a  little  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  ago  were  divided  and  at  war  with 
each  other  were  again  united  under  the  holy  standard  of  liberty.  Patriotism 
banished  party  feeling;  fifty  million  dollars  for  the  national  defense  was  appro- 
priated without  debate  or  division,  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  as  only  a  mere 
indication  of  our  mighty  reserve  power. 

"But  if  this  is  true  of  the  beginning  of  the  war  what  shall  we  say  of  it 
no\v,  with  hostilities  suspended  and  peace  near  at  hand,  as  we  fervently  hope? 
Matchless  in  its  results !  Unequaled  in  its  completeness,  and  the  quick  succes- 
sion with  which  victory  followed  victory!  Attained  earlier  than  it  was  believed 
to  be  possible ;  so  comprehensive  in  its  sweep  that  every  thoughtful  man  feels 
the  weight  of  responsibility  which  has  been  so  suddenly  thrust  upon  us.  And 
above  all,  and  beyond  all,  the  valor  of  the  American  army  and  the  bravery  of 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  467 

the  American  navy,  and  the  majesty  of  the  American  name  stand  forth  in 
unsullied  glory,  while  the  humanity  of  our  purposes,  and  the  magnanimity  of 
our  conduct  have  given  to  war,  always  horrible,  touches  of  noble  generosity, 
Christian  sympathy  and  charity,  and  examples  of  human  grandeur  which  can 
never  be  lost  to  mankind.  Passions  and  bitterness  formed  no  part  of  our  impell- 
ing motive,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  feel  that  humanity  triumphed  at  every  step  of 
the  war's  progress. 

"The  heroes  of  Manila  and  Santiago  and  Porto  Rico  have  made  immortal 
history,  they  are  worthy  successors  and  descendants  of  Washington  and  Greene; 
of  Paul  Jones,  Decatur  and  Hull,  and  of  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan  and  Logan , 
of  Farragut,  Porter  and  Gushing,  and  of -Lee,  Jackson  and  Longstreet. 

"New  names  stand  out  on  the  honor  roll  of  the  nation's  great  men,  and  with 
them  unnamed  stand  the  heroes  of  the  trenches  and  the  forecastle,  invincible  in 
battle  and  uncomplaining  in  death.  The  intelligent,  loyal,  indomitable  soldier 
and  sailor  and  the  marine  regular  and  volunteer,  are  entitled  to  equal  praise  as 
having  done  their  whole  duty,  whether  at  home  or  under  the  baptism  of  foreign 
fire. 

"Who  will  dim  the  splendor  of  their  achievements?  Who  will  withhold 
from  them  their  well  earned  distinction?  Who  will  intrude  detraction  at  this 
time  to  belittle  the  manly  spirit  of  the  American  youth  and  impair  the  usefulness 
of  the  American  army?  Who  will  embarrass  the  Government  by  sowing  seeds 
of  dissatisfaction  among  the  brave  men  who  stand  ready  to  serve  and  die,  if 
need  be,  for  their  country?  Who  will  darken  the  counsels  of  the  Republic  in 
this  hour  requiring  the  united  wisdom  of  all? 

"Shall  we  deny  to  ourselves  what  the  rest  of  the  world  so  freely  and  so 
justly  accord  to  us?  The  men  who  endured  in  the  short  but  decisive  struggle 
its  hardships,  its  privations,  whether  in  field  or  camp,  on  ship  or  in  the  siege, 
and  planned  and  achieved  its  victories,  will  never  tolerate  impeachment,  either 
direct  or  indirect,  of  those  who  won  a  peace  whose  great  gain  to  civilization  is 
yet  unknown  and  unwritten. 

"The  faith  of  a  Christian  nation  recognizes  the  hand  of  Almighty  God  in 
the  ordeal  through  which  we  have  passed.  Divine  favor  seems  manifest  every- 
where. In  fighting  for  humanity's  sake  we  have  been  signally  blessed.  We  did 
not  seek  war.  To  avoid  it,  if  this  could  be  done  in  justice  and  honor  to  the 
rights  of  our  neighbors  and  ourselves,  was  our  constant  prayer.  The  war  was 
no  more  invited  by  us  than  were  the  questions  which  are  laid  at  our  door  by 
its  results.  Now,  as  then,  we  will  do  our  duty.  The  problems  will  not  be  solved 
in  a  day.  Patience  will  be  required ;  patience  combined  with  sincerity  of  pur- 
pose and  unshaken  resolution  to  do  right,  seeking  only  the  highest  good  of  a 
nation  and  recognizing  no  other  obligation,  pursuing  no  other  path  but  that  of 
duty. 

"Right  action  follows  right  purpose.  We  may  not  at  all  times  be  able  to 
divine  the  future,  the  way  may  not  always  seem  clear;  but  if  our  aims  are  high 
and  unselfish,  somehow  and  in  some  way  the  right  end  will  be  reached.  The 


468 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles 


Gen.  Joseph  Wheeler 


Gen.  Wm.  R.  Shafter 


genius  of  the  nation,  its  freedom,  its  wisdom,  its  humanity,  its  courage,  its 
justice,  favored  by  Divine  Providence,  will  make  it  equal  to  every  task,  and  the 
master  of  every  emergency." 

ARMY  AND   NAVY   DAY  — October  13,  1898 

Address  of  Major  General  Nelson  A.  Miles : 

"It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  people  of  the  mighty  West  gathered  in 
this  great  Exposition  have  set  apart  one  day  in  which  to  honor  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  United  States.  Speaking  for  the  army,  I  may  say  it  has  been 
most  closely  identified  with  the  welfare,  progress  and  prosperity  of  the  West 
than  with  any  other  portion  of  this  great  country.  It  was  up  this  river  that 
was  led  in  the  early  years  of  the  century  a  little  band  of  explorers  past  the  site 
of  your  beautiful  city  and  destined  to  discover  the  wealth,  the  resources  and  the 
beauty  of  our  newly  acquired  and  vast  territory,  extending  from  the  'Father 
of  Waters,'  to  the  broad  Pacific,  and  render  immortal  the  names  of  Lewis  and 
Clark.  It  was  near  this  spot  that  many  of  the  most  important  expeditions  have 
been  organized  and  equipped  for  the  exploration  and  conquest  of  the  wilder- 
ness occupied  by  numerous  and  powerful  tribes  of  savages,  and  it  was  here  that 
the  army  found  ever  cordial  welcome  upon  returning  from  these  perilous  and 
hazardous  enterprises.  Here  was  initiated  that  great  expedition  which  wound 
its  way  slowly  among  the  hills  into  the  plain,  and  then  with  steadily  increasing 
speed  until  the  stroke  of  a  hammer  upon  a  golden  nail  telegraphed  to  the  world 
on  the  Qth  of  May,  1869,  the  completion  of  the  first  Trans-Continental  railway. 
and  a  prophecy  of  the  matchless  material  progress,  whose  fruition  we  now  see 
demonstrated  here. 

"Individually,  there  is  no  place  where  I  feel  more  at  home  than  in  the 
great  West.  Twenty-six  of  the  best  years  of  my  life  have  been  spent  in  service 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


469 


Admiral  George  Dewey 


Admiral  Wm.  T.  Sampson 


Admiral  Winfield  S.  Schley 


west  of  the  Missouri  River.  As  I  have  been  identified  with  its  trials  and 
privations,  and  in  full  sympathy  with  its  sacrifices  and  its  heroic  struggle,  so  I 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  its  marvelous  growth  and  development,  and 
its  grand  and  splendid  prosperity. 

"Here  we  find  the  true  spirit  of  American  enterprise.  It  was  the  prospect 
of  these  fields  which  tempted  from  their  homes  the  most  heroic,  the  most  resolute 
and  the  boldest  spirits,  whose  children  having  caught  the  inspiration  of  their 
fathers,  are  now,  in  independence  of  character,  true  progressive  spirit,  intelli- 
gence and  integrity  in  the  front  rank  of  citizenship. 

"The  hardships  endured  and  sacrifices  made  by  the  army,  deprived  of  many 
of  the  advantages  of  civilization  in  its  service  on  the  frontier,  have  been  little 
known  and  little  heeded  or  appreciated  by  the  average  citizen  in  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  United  States ;  yet  there  has  not  been  a  camp  of  pioneers  of  miners, 
of  herdsmen,  or  of  colonists,  in  the  vast  and  trackless  wilderness  of  fifty  years 
ago,  who  have  not  found  the  protecting  presence  of  the  resolute  and  faithful 
soldier  standing  ward  between  the  defenseless  and  the  savage.  During  that 
period  there  has  come  such  a  transformation  as  was  never  before  witnessed  in 
the  whole  history  of  the  human  race.  A  trackless  wilderness  and  barren  waste 
has  been  transformed  into  communities  and  States  which  exert  themselves  in 
friendly  rivalry  to  excel  each  other  in  modern  industries,  sciences,  art  and  institu- 
tions of  learning.  The  army  rejoices  in  your  magnificent  prosperity. 

"Let  us  remember  that  the  army  of  the  United  States  received  its  inspira- 
tion of  integrity,  honor  and  fortitude  from  the  precept  and  example  of  that  most 
eminent  and  perfect  soldier,  citizen  and  statesman,  its  first  commander,  George 
Washington.  The  army  does  not  forget,  and  the  country  should  not,  his  injunc- 
tion to  his  countrymen,  that,  'Timely  disbursements  to  prepare  for  danger  fre- 
quently prevent  much  greater  disbursements  to  repel  it,'  and  we  may  well 
emphasize  the  doctrine,  that  to  insure  peace,  we  should  be  prepared  for  war. 


470  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

There  are  other  maxims  of  George  Washington,  to  which  we  should  recur  at 
the  present  time.  For  instance,  'The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  regard  to 
foreign  nations,  is  in  extending  our  commercial  relations  to  have  with  them  as 
little  political  connection  as  possible.' 

"Another  of  incalculable  importance  now  and  always,  is  'Promote  then  as 
an  object  of  prime  importance  the  institutions  for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge. In  proportion  as  the  structure  of  the  Government  gives  force  to  public 
opinion,  it  is  essential  that  public  opinion  should  be  enlightened. 

"The  great  element  of  strength  for  a  republic,  and  especially  for  an  army, 
is  the  universal  intelligence  of  its  citizens  and  soldiers.  A  democratic  govern- 
ment can  not  safely  exist  where  this  is  wanting.  In  order  to  be  a  well  equipped 
soldier,  with  us,  a  man  must  be  first  well  informed,  having  due  regard  for  the 
advantages,  blessings  and  requirements  of  our  institutions,  and  appreciating  the 
obligation  of  the  citizen  to  his  Government,  realizing  that  without  patriotism, 
independence  of  character  and  integrity  of  purpose,  a  man  can  not  fulfill  the 
requirements  of  American  citizenship.  Intelligent  patriotism  in  addition,  when 
the  citizen  undertakes  service  in  the  army  or  the  navy,  so  demonstrates  the  fact 
that  he  possesses  still  another  of  the  noblest  traits  of  manhood  and  fortitude  to 
meet  the  needs  of  his  country,  and  if  need  be  die  to  uphold  the  honor  of  his  flag 
and  the  existence  of  his  Government.  This  has  been  the  record  of  the  American 
soldier  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  He  is  not  forced  to  maintain  a  dynasty 
or  support  the  power  of  a  monarch,  but  he  volunteers  to  serve  for  his  country's 
good  and  for  the  protection,  welfare  and  benefit  of  all  who  dwell  within  the 
borders  of  the  commonwealth.  For  more  than  a  century  the  history  of  our 
army  is  one  of  glorious  achievement  and  fortitude.  Scarcely  a  year  has  passed 
but  that  the  army  has  had  to  contend  against  a  savage,  crafty  and  warlike  race 
from  the  time  of  Washington  to  the  present  day.  The  history  of  heroic  service 
in  those  years  gilds  with  an  immortal  fame  the  names  and  records  of  those  men 
participating  in  the  wars,  whose  sacrifices  have  amounted  to  a  larger  percentage 
of  casualties  than  in  those  of  the  great  wars  between  civilized  nations.  It  was. 
in  that  school  that  Washington  himself  had  his  first  important  lessons  in  the  art 
of  war,  and  the  same  can  be  said  of  Putnam,  Greene,  Schuyler,  Marion,  Wayne, 
Morgan,  Jackson,  Worth,  Taylor,  and,  indeed,  Abraham  Lincoln. 

"Our  army  is  made  up  of  quite  different  material  from  that  of  the  great 
armies  of  Europe.  The  officers  belong  to  no  one  family  or  class  of  aristocracy. 
They  come  from  the  public  schools,  the  farms,  the  counting  houses,  and  the 
colleges  of  the  land.  Many  of  them  enlisted  in  the  ranks,  and  through  merit, 
industry  and  gallantry  have  fought  their  way  to  the  highest  position  of  honor 
and  responsibility.  The  people  of  every  State  and  the  best  families  and  ele- 
ments of  society  are  represented  by  soldiers  in  the  ranks  of  the  American  army. 
I  have  hoped  for  many  years  that  the  American  army  might  become  a  grand 
school  of  patriotism  in  which  boys  and  young  men  enter  and  while  serving 
their  country  benefit  themselves  by  gaining  a  thorough  knowledge  of  tin- 
principles  of  our  Government,  of  our  history  and  the  advantages  of  our  institu- 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  471 

tions,  and  add  to  their  knowledge  how  best  they  may  serve  their  country  in  the 
hours  of  national  peril  and  public  danger.  Possibly,  we  have  been  too  unmindful 
of  this  during  the  last  five  and  thirty  years.  For  four  years  preceding  that  period 
our  nation  was  engulfed  in  gloom,  in  the  smoke  and  turmoil  of  terrible  civil 
war,  and  only  after  four  years  of  sacrifice  and  suffering  did  it  emerge  to  a 
glorious  epoch  of  peace  and  prosperity. 

"During  the  period  of  development  of  the  great  West  and  marvelous  pros- 
perity of  the  following  thirty  years,  people  became  indifferent  to  the  condition 
of  our  army  and  navy,  and  as  a  result  of  that  indifference  we  have  found  it 
necessary  to  mobilize  an  army  for  a  foreign  war  without  previous  preparation 
and  without  the  elements  of  equipment  essential  to  its  efficiency.  Whether  we 
shall  profit  by  the  experience  of  the  last  few  months  remains  to  be  seen.  The 
enormous  expenditure  of  public  money  and  the  numberless  complaints  of  suffer- 
ing and  hardship  should,  in  my  opinion,  prompt  the  people  to  due  attention  to 
the  necessity  of  having  in  the  future  a  well  equipped  military  force  commen- 
surate with  our  interests  as  a  nation,  and  with  the  requirements  of  our  people  here 
and  those  living  beneath  our  flag  in  any  quarter  of  the  globe. 

"I  have  for  many  years  advocated  the  principle  of  having  one  soldier  to 
every  one  thousand  of  our  population  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  duties  and 
requirements  of  military  life,  and  I  think  that  standard  could  be  maintained  in 
the  future.  As  a  nation  grows  in  strength  and  responsibility,  those  two  pillars 
of  support — its  army  and  navy — should  grow  in  proportion.  I  believe  that  our 
ships  should  be  known  in  every  sea,  and  with  extended  commerce  there 
should  be  built  up  of  American  material,  armed  with  American  guns,  manned 
by  American  seamen,  a  navy  sufficient  to  protect  our  flag  and  our  interests  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe. 

"During  the  past  few  months  our  country  has  passed  through  an  ordeal 
which  ought  not  to  be  repeated.  The  experience  should  teach  us  that  tens  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  even  the  flower  of  our  citizens  can  not  suddenly  be 
moulded  into  well  equipped,  well  officered,  well  supplied,  well  disciplined  troops 
in  a  few  months. 

"Whatever  there  has  been  of  failure,  of  short-comings,  of  distress  or  of 
suffering — above  all,  whatever  there  has  been  of  hardship  or  horrors  of  war — 
the  American  army  has  written  upon  the  pages  of  history  a  page  that  will 
illume  its  name  forever ;  and  it  has  met  every  privation,  it  has  encountered 
every  hardship,  and  it  has  faced  every  peril  on  land  and  sea  incident  to  the  war, 
and  while  it  has  captured  guns,  battlefields,  prisoners,  fortifications  and  terri- 
tory, it  has  not  in  a  single  instance  given  an  inch  of  ground  to  the  enemy,  nor 
has  it  lowered  a  flag  of  the  Republic  nor  surrendered  a  color  or  a  rifle  to  the 
enemy.  It  has  carried  the  banner  of  freedom  to  the  oppressed  and  suffering, 
and  has  been  greeted  and  received,  not  as  ruthless  conquerors,  but  as  liberators 
and  defenders  of  the  liberties  and  rights  of  mankind.  Our  flag  has  been  hailed 
as  the  morning  light." 


472  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

CIVIL  GOVERNMENT   DAY  — October  14,  1898 

Address  of  General  William  R.  Shafter: 

"I  regret  that  I  am  not  able  to  express  in  fitting  words  my  appreciation  of 
the  reception  that  I  have  received  at  your  hands.  For  what  little  I  may 
have  done  I  have  been  rewarded  far  beyond  my  wildest  dreams.  I  little 
thought  that  I  should  reach  the  highest  rank  when  I  marched  away  thirty- 
six  years  ago  as  a  volunteer  of  infantry.  The  highest  reward  a  soldier  can 
receive  is  the  gratitude  and  appreciation  of  his  countrymen ;  and  this,  I  believe, 
I  now  possess.  Perhaps  the  most  appropriate  thing  I  can  say  is  to  give  you 
a  short  history  of  the  campaign  in  Cuba  that  has  ended  with  so  much  honor  to 
our  arms.  I  was  ordered  to  report  at  Washington,  and  was  informed  that  I  should 
lead  the  first  expedition  from  the  United  States.  I  was  ordered  to  Tampa  with 
a  view  to  making  a  reconnoissance  in  Cuba  in  force,  but  this  plan  was  subse- 
quently abandoned,  and  we  remained  there  ready  for  whatever  service  might  be 
demanded.  Then  we  were  ordered  to  go  and  assist  the  fleet  to  capture  the  harbor 
and  city  of  Santiago,  and  we  embarked  with  an  army  of  seventeen  thousand 
men.  We  had  absolutely  no  maps  of  Cuba,  but  I  had  with  me  a  couple  of  men 
who  were  born  at  Santiago,  and  guided  by  information  I  received  from  them 
I  determined  to  land  at  the  two  points  where  I  did.  The  result  has  convinced 
me  that  my  judgment  was  correct.  No  army  has  ever  gone  from  a  temperate 
zone  to  the  tropics  without  disaster,  and  for  this  reason  I  knew  that  the  cam- 
paign must  be  pushed  as  rapidly  as  lay  in  human  power  and  endurance.  Although 
I  had  the  best  army  that  ever  marched  under  an  American  flag,  the  climate 
was  something  awful.  You  who  have  never  experienced  its  horrors  can  never 
realize  them.  I  believed  that  we  were  strong  enough  to  move  on  Santiago,  and 
in  three  days  I  had  landed  the  entire  army.  On  June  25  we  defeated  the 
Spaniards  in  a  sharp  engagement.  They  had  been  accustomed  to  fighting  men 
who  were  poorly  fed  and  inadequately  armed,  and  they  were  astounded  at  the 
fighting  qualities  of  our  soldiers.  It  has  been  said  that  troops  in  trenches,  armed 
with  breech-loading  rifles  could  not  be  successfully  assailed,  but  we  proved  the 
fallacy  of  that  idea. 

"We  then  decided  on  the  capture  of  El  Caney,  and  a  division  was  detached 
to  make  the  charge.  I  thought  that  we  could  take  it  in  two  hours,  but  it  required 
from  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  4:30  in  the  afternoon.  The  Span- 
iards expected  to  be  killed  if  they  were  captured,  so  most  of  them  fought  until 
they  were  killed,  and  no  prisoners  were  taken.  We  never  advanced  beyond  the 
position  that  we  won  in  that  fight.  The  enemy  came  out  the  next  morning  to 
make  an  attack,  but  it  was  fruitless  and  only  lasted  an  hour.  Then  the  cam- 
paign was  practically  over.  It  was  simply  necessary  to  convince  the  Spanish 
commander  that  his  case  was  hopeless.  He  eventually  surrendered,  and,  with 
our  small  army,  we  had  captured  twenty-three  thousand  three  hundred  seventy- 
six  prisoners,  twelve  thousand  of  whom  were  beyond  our  reach.  Why  the  Span- 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  473 

iards  surrendered  when  they  could  have  abandoned  their  position  and  kept  up 
the  war  I  do  not  yet  understand,  but  I  believe  it  was  because  they  had  been 
informed  that  the  Spanish  Government  had  decided  to  give  up  the  fight  and 
surrender  their  soldiers  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  island. 

"The  problem  of  that  campaign  was  supplies.  The  fighting  was  the  least 
part  of  it  and  the  soonest  over.  There  were  times  when  the  men  were  short. 
You  who  were  in  the  civil  war  remember  that  there  were  many  times  during 
that  conflict  when  we  were  short  of  rations,  but  then  we  could  always  forage. 
But  in  Cuba  there  was  nothing  to  confiscate,  and  the  army  depended  entirely 
on  the  supplies  that  were  forwarded  with  the  greatest  difficulty  over  roads  that 
were  at  times  impassible.  While  most  of  the  fighting  in  Cuba  was  done  by  the 
regular  army,  the  volunteers  did  all  they  were  required  to  do,  and  they  did  it 
like  soldiers." 

GERMAN   DAY  — October  18,  1898 

A  great  parade  of  German  societies  had  been  arranged  as  a  part  of  their 
celebration.  This  parade  was  postponed  on  account  of  the  storm,  but  their  exer- 
cises were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at  3  o'clock  p.  m.  The  program  was  as  follows : 

Music   Innes   Band 

Welcome    Mayor   Moores 

Music  Orpheus  Singing  Society 

Address Wm.  Rapp,  Editor  Illinois  Stoats  Zeitung 

Address  Hon.  E.  Rosewater 

Music    Innes    Band 

ANCIENT   ORDER   OF  UNITED  WORKMEN   DAY  —  October  18,  1898 

The  parade  of  Workmen  was  also  postponed  on  account  of  the  weather.  The 
exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at  1 :3O  o'clock  p.  m.  The  program  was 
as  follows: 

Music South  Omaha  Band 

Invocation • Rev.  C.  A.  Dawson 

Welcome    Mayor   Moores 

Response  Grand  Master  Workman  Schultz 

Address   Grand  Master  Workman  Tipton,  of  Iowa 

Music   South  Omaha  Band 

Address Mrs.  Delia  Harding,  Grand  Chief  of  Honor 

Address Deputy  G.  M.  Geiger,  of  Iowa 

Address  Past  Master  Workman  J.  G.  Tate 

Music    South  Omaha   Band 

NEBRASKA   DAY  — October  19,  1898 

Very  low  excursion  rates  from  all  parts  of  the  State  had  been  made  by  the 
railroads,  and  it  was  planned  to  make  Nebraska  Day  the  greatest  day  of  the 
Exposition,  but  on  account  of  the  bad  weather  the  attendance,  though  very  large, 
was  not  as  great  as  had  been  expected.  The  Governor  and  his  staff,  the  Nebraska 


474  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

State  Commission,  State  officers  and  other  officials,  were  escorted  in  carriages  to 
the  Exposition  grounds.  The  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium.  The  pro- 
gram was  as  follows : 

Invocation  Chancellor  MacLean,  N.  S.  U. 

Music   Wesleyan  Quartette  of  Lincoln 

Welcome President    Wattles 

Violin  Solo Miss  Mae  Rees,  Hastings,  Nebr. 

With  Piano  Accompaniment,  Miss  Edith  Payne. 

Music The  Christian  Sisters,  of  Ashland,  Nebr. 

Oration   Hon.  Wm.  F.  Gurley 

Address Governor  S.  A.  Holcomb 

Music   The  Christian  Sisters. 

Governor  Holcomb,  in  his  address,  took  occasion  to  compliment  the  Exposi- 
tion officials  for  the  great  credit  they  had  brought  to  the  State  in  so  successfully 
building  and  conducting  this  great  industrial  Exposition. 

A  reception  was  held  at  the  Nebraska  building  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  the 
Governor  and  members  of  the  Nebraska  Commission  receiving. 

UTAH   DAY  — October  20,   1898 

The  Governor  of  Utah,  accompanied  by  his  staff  and  many  prominent 
residents  of  that  State,  came  to  celebrate  their  day  at  the  Exposition.  The  exer- 
cises were  held  in  the  Auditorium.  The  program  was  as  follows : 

Music Omaha  Concert  Band 

Welcome    President  Wattles 

Response Governor  H.  M.  Wells 

Music  Omaha  Concert  Band 

Address  President  Lorenzo  Snow,  of  the  Mormon  Church 

Address Hon.  George  Q.  Cannon 

Address President  Joseph  Smith,  of  the  Mormon  Church 

The  exercises  were  of  special  interest  on  account  of  the  presence  of  the 
Governor  of  the  State  and  the  three  presidents  of  the  Mormon  church.  The  early 
reminiscences  of  some  of  these  men  who  had  nearly  half  a  century  before  spent 
a  winter  at  Florence,  Nebr.,  and  had  followed  Brigham  Young  across  the 
then  Great  American  Desert,  were  instructive,  especially  compared  with  the  present 
civilization  which  has  grown  up  in  the  West  during  the  lives  of  these  men. 

RAILROAD   WEEK  — October  23  to  29,  1898 

The  last  week  of  the  Exposition  has  been  designated  as  Railroad  Week,  in 
order  that  the  railroads  might  bring  to  the  Exposition  on  low  excursion  rates 
all  those  who  had  not  yet  seen  its  beauties.  The  excursion  rates  fixed  by  all 
the  railroads  reaching  out  from  Omaha  were  extremely  low.  For  instance,  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  sold  a  $4  round-trip  ticket  from  the  western  part  of 
the  State  to  Omaha  and  return.  The  C.  R.  I.  &  P.  sold  railroad  tickets  from 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  475 

points  in  Kansas  and  return  at  $2  and  $2.50,  where  the  regular  fare  one  way 
was  $6  and  $7.  Other  railroads  gave  similar  rates,  and  the  effect  of  these 
low  rates  was  to  bring  to  the  Exposition  great  crowds  during  the  last  week  of 
its  history. 

On  October  20  a  special  train  bearing  President  Frank  Thompson,  the 
Board  of  Directors  and  many  of  the  officials  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  arrived. 
By  special  invitation  the  officers  of  the  Exposition  and  Executive  Committee  were 
invited  to  lunch  with  the  Pennsylvania  officials  in  their  private  dining-car.  A 
number  of  railroad  officials  living  in  Omaha  were  also  invited.  The  dinner  served 
was  one  of  the  most  pleasant  informal  affairs  given  during  the  Exposition. 

Saturday,  October  22,  was  especially  set  aside  for  the  children,  who  were 
admitted  free  on  that  day.  Excursions  from  many  parts  of  the  State  brought 
in  thousands  of  the  little  ones  and  the  return  of  sunshine  after  the  inclement 
weather  of  the  week  past  made  the  day  a  most  enjoyable  one,  and  largely  increased 
the  attendance  of  the  Exposition,  no  less  than  13,594  children  having  been 
admitted  free. 

On  Sunday,  October  23,  the  German  Parade,  which  had  been  postponed 
on  German  Day  on  account  of  the  inclement  weather,  was  given.  This  parade 
formed  in  the  vicinity  of  Germania  Hall  and  marched  to  the  Exposition  grounds. 
Numerous  bands,  elaborately  decorated  floats  and  a  long  line  of  carriages  with 
distinguished  German  guests  marched  through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city. 
At  the  Exposition  grounds  the  day  was  spent  by  the  participants  without  formal 
exercises. 

TRI-CITY   DAY  — October  26,  1898 

Davenport,  Rock  Island  and  Moline  united  to  make  this  one  of  the  special 
days  in  the  history  of  the  Exposition,  and  the  several  train-loads  of  delegates 
from  these  cities,  though  somewhat  belated,  spent  a  most  enjoyable  day  on  the 
grounds.  The  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium  at  n  o'clock  a.  m.,  and 
the  program  was  as  follows : 

Music  Bleuer's  Band,  Rock  Island,  111. 

Welcome  Mayor  Frank  E.  Moores 

Welcome    President  Wattles 

Music  ' Svea  Quartette,  Moline,  111. 

Address  v Mayor  George  T.  Baker,  Davenport,  Iowa 

Address  .- Mayor  T.  J.  Medill,  Rock  Island.  111. 

Music  Band 

Address Ex-Mayor  C.  A.  Ficke,  Davenport,  Iowa 

Music  Band 

OMAHA  DAY  — October  31,  1898 

It  having  been  decided  that  the  gates  of  the  Exposition  would  close  on 
October  31,  this  day  was  designated  as  Omaha  Day,  and  every  effort  was  used 
to  make  it  one  of  the  banner  days  of  the  Exposition.  Mayor  Moores  issued  a 
proclamation  reciting  the  many  benefits  that  Omaha  has  received  from  the 


476 


Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 


Exposition,  praising  its  management  and  declaring  Omaha  Day  an  official  holiday. 
He  urged  all  places  of  business  to  close  and  every  citizen  of  the  city  to  attend 
the  Exposition  on  that  day.  The  Board  of  Education  ordered  the  schools  closed, 
the  Commercial  Club  and  labor  organizations  urged  the  universal  celebration  of 
this  holiday,  and  every  citizen  of  Omaha  seemed  to  take  on  himself  the  responsi- 
bility of  working  for  the  success  of  this  day.  Proprietors  of  many  of  the  large 
stores  distributed  tickets  of  admission  among  their  employes.  Charitable  citizens 
distributed  hundreds  of  tickets  to  the  poor  of  the  city  through  the  assistance  of 
the  associated  charities. 

The  last  day  of  the  Exposition,  like  the  first,  was  one  of  bright  sunshine. 
The  exercises  of  the  day  were  planned  to  take  place  in  the  Auditorium  at  3  o'clock 
p.  m.,  immediately  after  the  band  concert.  The  program  was  as  follows : 

Music    Innes    Band 

Invocation   Rev.  T.  J.   Mackay 

Address    Mayor   Moores 

Address  Manager  Z.  T.  Lindsey 

Music    Innes    Band 

Address    Manager   Rosewater 

Address    President   Wattles 

Music  . .  Innes  Band 


Mayor  Moores  spoke  as  follows : 

"It  is  fitting  that  the  closing  day  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Exposition  should  be  set 
aside  as  Omaha  Day,  for  from  its  inception 
this  great  enterprise  had  been  dependent 
upon  the  energy,  sagacity  and  benevolence  of 
the  citizens  of  Omaha. 

"Omaha  far-sightedness  planned  this 
Exposition  when  the  leaden  skies  of  adversity 
hung  heavy  over  the  land;  Omaha  courage 
inspired  the  Trans-Mississippi  region  with 
faith  in  the  future,  and  secured  promises  of 
cooperation  and  assistance  from  the  Western 
cities  and  States,  when  financial  panic  and 
business  depression  were  trying  the  stoutest 
hearts;  Omaha  liberality  and  generosity  fur- 
nished the  vast  amount  of  money  required  to 
secure  the  successful  completion  of  the  Expo- 
sition plans:  Omaha  intelligence  and  energy 
have  directed  and  managed  the  enterprise; 
and  now.  most  properly,  to  Omaha  has  been  accorded  the  honor  of  closing  the 
Exposition.  I  trust  that  when  the  turnstiles  cease  clicking  tonight  they  will  have 
registered  the  largest  daily  attendance  ever  seen  upon  these  grounds. 


City  Hall,  Omaha 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


477 


"This  Exposition  has  been  a  benefit  to  Omaha  in  many  ways.  It  has  inspired 
the  Omaha  people  with  faith  in  themselves  and  in  their  city.  It  has  shown  our 
citizens  that  no  enterprise  is  too  large  for  them  to  undertake  and  carry  to 
successful  completion  if  they  work  together  and  give  it  their  loyal  support.  It 
has  made  Omaha  people  proud  of  their  city  and  they  have  formed  the  habit  of 
doing  their  part  to  make  the  city  neat,  clean  and  attractive,  and  of  saying  the 
best  things  about  Omaha,  instead  of  talking  to  friends  and  visitors  about  the 
failings  of  the  city.  In  fact,  many  of  our  most  hopeless  old  fogies  have  become 
so  accustomed  to  hearing  other  people  say  good  things  about  Omaha  that  they 
sometimes  find  themselves  praising  the  city.  Then,  again,  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  persons  who  have  visited  our  city  have  gone  to  their  homes  in 
various  parts  of  the  country  singing  the  praises  of  Omaha  hospitality,  liberality, 
pluck,  push,  energy  and  thrift,  and  hundreds  of 
business  men  and  manufacturers  are  now  looking 
toward  Omaha  for  the  purpose  of  locating  new 
establishments  here.  My  prediction  is  that  during 
the  next  ten  years  Omaha  will  experience  a  larger 
proportion  of  growth  than  any  other  city  in  the 
country,  and  that  the  close  of  the  decade  will  see 
here  a  population  of  250,000  to  300,000,  with  a 
commensurate  increase  in  business  in  all  lines. 

"The  country  at  large  believes  in  Omaha,  and 
visitors  have  not  been  slow  to  voice  their  approval. 
That  distinguished  statesman  and  diplomat, 
ex-Governor  Crittenden,  of  Missouri,  in  an  address 
here  on  Kansas  City  Day,  said :  The  record 
Omaha  has  made  in  erecting  this  Exposition  is 
marvelous.  Kansas  City  could  not  have  done  it ; 
St.  Louis  could  not  have  done  it ;  in  fact,  no  other  Western  city  could  have  accom- 
plished the  task.  Such  an  enterprise  required  a  complete  unity  and  a  splendid 
liberality  and  public  spirit,  which  no  other  city,  I  believe,  possesses.' 

"Such  words  from  such  a  source  should  fill  our  citizens  with  greater  pride 
in  their  city. 

"I  feel  that  at  this  time  I  should  poorly  represent  the  people  of  Omaha  if  I 
should  close  these  remarks  without  expressing  to  the  directors  and  especially  to 
the  officers  and  board  of  managers  of  the  Exposition  the  gratitude  of  their  fellow 
citizens  for  their  devoted,  unselfish  labors,  which  have  brought  the  Exposition  to 
this  splendid  culmination.  They  have  succeeded  far  beyond  our  fondest  dreams. 
I  wish  to  thank  them  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Omaha  for  what  they  have 
accomplished  here  and  for  the  good  they  have  done  the  city. 

"And  now,  fellow  citizens,  as  the  Exposition  closes,  let  us  look  forward  to  the 
future  with  faith  and  courage  and  let  us  one  and  all  put  our  shoulders  to  the 
wheel  of  Omaha  prosperity  and  progress.  The  future  of  Greater  Omaha  is  in 
vour  hands." 


Frank  E.  Moores, 
Mayor  of  Omaha 


4:78  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

Manager  Lindsey  spoke  as  follows : 

"Away  back  in  the  good  old  times  which  we  have  all  heard  about  and  some 
of  us  have  seen,  there  used  to  be  an  occasion  at  the  close  of  the  district  school 
called  the  'last  day.'  It  was  a  gala  day,  as  it  meant  freedom  from  lessons  and 
restraint  and  because  it  ushered  in  a  long-looked-for  holiday. 

"The  management  has  come  to  the  'last  day'  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  and 
International  Exposition ;  our  tasks  are  almost  ended,  and  our  holiday  is  near 
at  hand.  We  have  all  seen  on  the  Midway  some  wonderful  and  beautiful  illusions, 
and  have  been  mystified  by  many  marvelous  feats  of  magic,  but  the  greatest  marvel 
of  all  has  been  the  Exposition  itself.  To  transfer  an  irregular  cornfield  into 
fairyland,  with  magnificent  buildings,  stately  domes,  graceful  colonnades,  beauti- 
ful flower  gardens,  pleasant  groves,  splashing 
fountains  and  the  whole  illuminated  by  a  tracery 
of  brilliant  lights — to  do  all  this  in  less  than  two 
years  does  indeed  seem  a  feat  worthy  of  Aladdin 
and  his  lamp. 

"Unlike  our  friends  on  the  Midway,  I  am 
going  to  tell  you  how  this  marvel  was  done.  First 
of  all  it  did  not  come  by  chance,  nor  by  inheritance. 
Some  would"  have  you  believe  it  was  a  streak  of 
luck,  that  good  fortune,  like  a  pillar  of  cloud,  pre- 
ceded us  by  day  and  hovered  over  us  like  a  pillar 
of  fire  at  night.  While  I  believe  that  an  over- 
ruling Providence  aided  us  with  clear  skies, 
pleasant  weather  and  bountiful  harvests,  still  I 
must  repudiate  the  good-luck  theory,  and  attribute 

Zachary  T.  Lindsey  ^    stupendous    succeSS    of    the    Exposition    tO    the 

common  sense,  every-day  business  ideas,  to  the  sleepless  nights,  and  the  persistent 
hard  work  of  the  members  of  the  executive  committee. 

"Social  pleasures,  personal  comfort  and  individual  business  requirements 
have  all  been  brushed  aside,  and  no  obstacle  has  been  allowed  to  interfere  with 
the  successful  outcome  of  our  aims — an  Exposition  worthy  of  its  name  and  the 
great  territory  it  represents." 

Continuing,  Mr.  Lindsey  briefly  reviewed  the  work  of  securing  the  funds 
with  which  to  promote  such  a  colossal  enterprise  and  expressed  his  grateful 
acknowledgment  of  the  confidence  that  the  people  had  reposed  in  the  management 
of  the  Exposition.  He  also  paid  a  tribute  to  the  men  on  whom  they  had  called  for 
advice  and  encouragement  in  times  of  discouragement  and  trial,  and  expressed 
the  thanks  of  the  management  to  every  one  who  had  contributed  to  make  the 
Exposition  what  it  is.  In  conclusion,  he  said  that  while  there  had  been  much 
hard  work  in  the  building  of  the  Exposition,  there  was  also  much  that  was 
pleasant,  and  if,  in  the  stress  and  worry  consequent  upon  so  vast  an  undertaking 
there  had  arisen  any  unpleasant  memories  he  asked  that  they  be  consigned  to  rest 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days 


479 


and  that  the  people  should  remember  that  what  had  been  done  had  been  done  for 
the  glory  of  Omaha,  of  Nebraska,  and  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  region. 

Manager  Edward   Rosewater's  address : 

Mr.  Rose  water  said  that  the  birth  of  most  great  men  creates  no  ripple  of 
excitement  except  in  the  midst  of  their  own  family  and  friends.  So  some  of  the 
most  momentous  epochs  in  the  history  of  the  world  have  been  ushered  in  without 
attracting  the  attention  of  the  world  at  large.  It  had  come  under  his  personal 
observation  that  even  when  the  proclamation  of  emancipation  was  issued  by 
President  Lincoln  it  excited  no  visible  demonstration  in  the  city  where  it  was 
promulgated.  This  was  also  true  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Exposition.  The 
inception  of  the  enterprise  had  attracted  but  little 
attention  in  this  community.  Even  those  who 
participated  in  its  birth  did  not  realize  that  oaks 
from  little  acorns  grow.  Three  months  after 
Omaha  was  selected  as  the  site  of  the  Exposition 
scarcely  forty  men  met  at  the  Commercial  Club  to 
start  the  subscription  list.  The  first  man  wanted 
to  head  the  list  for  $100,  but  over  $10,000  was 
finally  subscribed.  Even  when  we  went  before 
Congress  for  a  $300,000  appropriation  only  $1,250 
had  been  paid  in. 

"It  was  the  greatest  piece  of  adamantine  gall 
I  ever  saw,"  continued  the  speaker,  "but  we  suc- 
ceeded, not  only  in  getting  the  original  appropria- 
tion, but  $40,000  additional  for  the  organization 
and  maintenance  of  the  Indian  Congress.  It  was 
not  luck  that  brought  this  about,  but  hard  labor.  While  few  of  our  people 
realize,  and  many  never  will  realize,  what  has  been  done,  they  can  see  the  results 
since  2,600.000  people  have  passed  through  our  gates.  Even  some  of  our  best 
business  men  refused  to  co-operate  in  the  enterprise  and  freely  predicted  calamity 
and  disaster.  Only  five  State  legislatures  made  appropriations,  but  we  have 
twenty  States  creditably  represented  on  the  grounds  through  private  subscriptions." 

In  this  connection  Mr.  Rosewater  called  attention  to  some  of  the  municipal 
jealousies  that  had  handicapped  the  management  in  securing  outside  co-operation 
in  the  early  days  of  the  enterprise,  and  related  one  or  two  humorous  incidents 
that  effectively  illustrated  the  difficulties  that  had  been  encountered. 

Speaking  of  the  work  of  his  own  department,  Mr.  Rosewater  said  that  the 
labors  of  the  Department  of  Publicity  had  extended  from  Massachusetts  to 
Oregon  and  Washington.  They  had  involved  daily  and  nightly  attention,  and 
the  correspondence  that  had  been  carried  on  would  fill  many  volumes.  "But,"  he 
concluded,  "I  will  not  weary  you  with  telling  what  we  have  done.  Here  we 
have  the  result,  the  most  marvelous  achievement  that  the  pioneers  of  the  West 
have  ever  undertaken  and  accomplished.  We  have  found  that  what  Omaha 


Hon.  Edward  Rosewater 


480  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

undertakes  to  do  she  will  complete,  and  that  Omaha  can  do  as  much  as  any 
other  city  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  West.  Chicago  received  money  enough 
from  the  general  government  to  build  ten  expositions.  Even  then  they  had  to 
postpone  it  a  year,  while,  in  spite  of  the  war  and  in  spite  of  the  circumstances,  we 
opened  our  Exposition  promptly  on  time  and  we  will  close  it  tonight  with  all  the 
glory  that  any  one  could  wish." 

ADDRESS   BY   PRESIDENT   WATTLES 
President  Wattles  spoke  as  follows : 

"Within  a  few  hours  the  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 
will  have  passed  into  history.  It  is  proper  on  this  occasion  to  review  briefly  the 
progress  of  this  enterprise,  and  while  the  work  of  its  promoters  and  the  results 
of  their  labors  are  more  or  less  familiar  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  community, 
the  efficient  services  rendered  by  a  few  of  our  citizens,  without  compensation,  for 
the  public  good,  can  only  be  fully  appreciated  when  the  grand  results  attained 
and  their  importance  to  this  city  and  the  West  are  fully  understood. 

"In  the  fall  of  1895,  when  this  Exposition  was  first  proposed,  the  business 
interests  of  this  community  were  at  their  lowest  ebb.  To  arouse  the  people  of  this* 
city  and  of  the  West  from  the  stupor  of  discouragement  and  depression 
which  pervaded  all  our  business  interests,  and  to  enlist  their  financial  aid  and 
co-operation  in  a  great  Exposition  of  the  resources  of  the  West,  was  a  stupendous 
undertaking.  No  one  can  appreciate  the  discouragements  encountered  except 
those  who  were  actively  engaged  in  the  work. 

"On  January  8,  1897,  the  corporation  was  organized  and  a  board  of  eleven 
directors  elected.  For  nearly  a  year  these  directors  met  weekly,  and  much 
of  the  most  important  preliminary  work  was  accomplished.  Resolutions  from 
commercial  bodies,  cities  and  States  favoring  the  Exposition  and  requesting 
national  recognition  and  a  federal  appropriation  were  secured  in  large  numbers. 
Preliminary  appropriations  by  the  States  of  Iowa  and  Louisiana  were  made,  and 
finally  through  the  efficient  efforts  of  our  representatives  in  Congress,  Government 
recognition  was  secured,  pledging  an  appropriation  of  $200,000  for  a  federal 
building  and  an  exhibit. 

"This  achievement  was  the  turning  point  in  the  history  of  the  enterprise  and 
settled  in  the  minds  of  many,  who  had  been  doubters  before,  that  the  Exposition 
would  be  a  reality.  Soliciting  committees  were  organized  and  more  than  $350,000 
of  the  stock  subscriptions  and  donations  were  secured. 

"In  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  new  contributors,  the  articles  of  association 
were  amended  and  an  enlarged  board  of  fifty  directors  was  elected  on  Decem- 
ber i,  1896.  The  work  was  then  divided  into  seven  departments,  two  of  which 
were  afterwards  consolidated.  The  managers  of  these  departments  constitute 
the  Executive  Committee.  For  some  months  after  this  organization  was  perfected 
the  Executive  Committee  met  twice  a  week,  but  for  more  than  a  year  past  this 
committee  has  held  daily  sessions,  and  its  members  have  devoted  their  valuable 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  481 

time  and  business  experience  without  compensation  to  the  enormous  details  of 
the  organization.  The  magnitude  of  the  business  done  by  this  committee  can  not 
be  appreciated  by  those  not  familiar  with  the  details  of  the  management  of  great 
enterprises  of  this  character. 

"The  sessions  of  the  committee  have  not  always  been  harmonious,  but  differ- 
ences have  been  adjusted,  and  in  nearly  every  instance  measures  have  passed 
by  unanimous  vote.  The  splendid  business  management  of  this  Exposition  is 
largely  due  to  the  careful  attention  to  all  important  matters  by  the  entire  com- 
mittee. Every  dollar  of  the  funds  of  the  Exposition  has  been  expended  under 
authority  voted  by  this  committee,  and  while  the  plan  of  organization  has  been 
criticised  by  some,  the  results  attained  speak  volumes  in  its  praise.  No  single 
individual  could  have  given  the  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  enterprise  that  they 
have  received  by  the  department  managers. 

"Something  of  the  details  of  the  Ways  and  Means,  Publicity  and  Promotion 
and  Transportation  Departments  has  been  given  by  their  respective  managers,  who 
have  already  addressed  you  today.  Of  the  work  done  by  the  other  departments  I 
shall  speak  briefly. 

"One  of  the  greatest  achievements  of  this  Exposition  has  been  the  beauty 
and  convenience  of  the  grounds  and  buildings.  The  manager  of  this  department 
brought  into  practical  service  his  successful  business  training,  and  to  his  capacity 
for  details  much  of  the  success  of  his  department  is  due.  He  knew  no  business 
hours,  but  at  all  times,  both  day  and  night  for  weeks  and  months,  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  work  at  hand.  One  of  the  first  recommendations  made  by  this 
department  was  the  change  of  location  from  Miller  Park  to  the  present  site.  The 
wisdom  of  this  change  is  conceded  by  all.  To  the  convenience  and  accessibility  of 
the  present  location  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  Exposition  and  its  financial  success 
is  due. 

"In  the  selection  of  the  great  artists,  whose  architecture,  landscaping  and 
electrical  effects  have  been  the  admiration  of  all  visitors,  the  manager  of  this 
department  displayed  great  wisdom.  It  is  conceded  by  all  that  to  the  architects-in- 
chief  we  are  indebted  for  more  words  of  praise  of  our  Exposition  than  to  any  other 
source.  Their  beautiful  groupings  and  splendid  designs  of  buildings  and  grounds 
have  won  for  them  a  world-wide  and  lasting  fame.  The  work  of  all  the  other 
architects  who  planned  the  buildings  was  of  the  highest  order,  and  each  design 
a  masterpiece.  The  landscape-gardening  has  been  a  surprise  and  pleasure  to 
all.  The  trees,  the  flowers  and  even  the  grass  seemed  to  grow  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  architect  as  by  magic.  The  arrangement  of  the  vines  and  plants, 
the  walks  and  drives,  have  made  the  grounds  a  veritable  garden  of  beauty.  No 
words  of  praise  can  repay  the  pleasure  that  this  great  artist  has  given  to  hundreds 
of  thousands  who  have  admired  his  beautiful  design. 

"One  of  the  crowning  features  of  this  Exposition,  and  one  which  has 
excelled  all  other  Expositions  in  the  world's  history,  has  been  its  electrical  effects. 
To  the  designer  and  his  able  assistant,  the  superintendent  of  electricity,  the 
Exposition  is  indebted  for  the  wonderment  and  surprise  expressed  by  all  who 


482  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

have  witnessed  the  magnificent  spectacle  of  the  Grand  Court  at  night.  The 
buildings  and  exhibits  will  fade  in  memory,  but  who  can  ever  forget  the  inspira- 
tions and  impressions  produced  by  the  illuminations  which  at  night  glorified  each 
turret,  spire  and  dome. 

"But  the  work  of  these  great  men  would  have  gone  for  naught  but  for  the 
careful  attention  and  business  sagacity  displayed  in  minor  details.  Leases  from 
hundreds  of  owners  of  the  grounds  were  secured,  contracts  for  buildings  and 
improvements  were  made,  and  only  those  who  witnessed  the  chaos  that  existed 
here  as  late  as  April,  1897,  can  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  work  accomplished 
by  this  department.  The  first  ground  was  broken  April  27,  1897,  a  little  more 
than  a  year  before  the  gates  were  opened  to  an  admiring  world.  The  contract 
for  the  first  building  was  awarded  on  July  19.  1897,  but  between  that  time  and 
the  completion  of  construction  no  less  than  no  buildings  and  structures,  large 
and  small,  were  erected  by  this  department  at  a  total  cost  of  $565,034,  and  the  total 
expenditure  up  to  date  by  this  department  has  been  $1,053,064.34. 

"A  fire  and  police  department  was  organized,  which,  under  the  able  direction 
of  our  city  chief,  has  saved  from  destruction  this  beautiful  white  city  on  several 
occasions.  A  medical  department  was  provided  which  has 'served  no  less  than 
1,973  patients  during  the  Exposition.  A  sanitary  department  was  established 
whose  efficient  service  has  been  attested  by  the  cleanliness  of  the  grounds  and 
buildings.  But  I  must  not  dwell  longer  on  the  work  of  this  important  department 
and  the  efficient  services  rendered  by  its  manager  and  his  assistants. 

"The  Exhibits  Department  had  a  stupendous  responsibility  to  gather  from 
the  States  of  the  West  and  all  parts  of  the  world  the  products  of  soil  and  mine 
and  factory  to  fill  these  beautiful  buildings  when  completed.  The  manager  of  this 
department  had  many  obstacles  to  overcome,  as  it  was  early  decided  that  owing  to 
the  necessity  of  financial  aid  a  space  charge  from  all  exhibits  would  be  made. 
But  for  the  tact  and  ability  of  the  manager  and  his  able  superintendent,  the 
splendid  financial  showing  of  the  Exposition  could  not  be  made  today.  No  less 
than  $190,716  has  been  collected  and  conveyed  to  the  treasury  for  exhibit  space 
by  this  department.  Something  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work  performed  can  be 
conceived  when  I  say  that  4,062  separate  exhibits  were  made  and  forty  States 
and  ten  foreign  countries  were  represented. 

"To  gather  these  exhibits  and  install  them  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  interested 
parties  was  a  task  which  could  not  have  been  performed  by  anyone  of  less  ability 
than  the  able  manager  of  this  department.  In  many  instances  these  exhibits 
have  excelled  all  others  at  previous  Expositions.  The  livestock  show  was  con- 
ceded by  all  to  be  the  finest  collection  of  animals  ever  exhibited.  There  were 
2,692  entries,  while  at  the  World's  Fair  there  were  but  1,842.  The  agricultural 
exhibit  is  pronounced  the  best  that  has  ever  been  made,  while  the  mineral  exhibit 
excels  any  other  of  the  mineral  products  of  the  territory  represented.  The 
Government  exhibit  here  is  also  the  best  this  nation  has  ever  displayed,  and  it  has 
been  admired  and  praised  by  all. 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  483 

"The  space  at  the  disposal  of  this  department  did  not  permit  of  exhibits  that 
would  compare  in  magnitude  and  number  to  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  but  in 
point  of  excellence,  variety  and  careful  selection,  the  exhibits  of  this  Exposition 
have  never  been  excelled.  The  enormous  details  in  the  allotment  of  space,  the 
adjustment  of  conflicting  interests,  the  selection  of  juries  of  award,  and  the  gath- 
ering from  the  Art  Galleries  of  the  world  the  choice  specimens  which  make  up  the 
splendid  exhibit  of  the  Fine  Arts  building,  have  engaged  the  time,  energy  and 
ability  of  the  able  manager  of  this  department. 

"The  manager  of  the  Concessions  Department  has  performed  duties  with 
signal  ability,  tact  and  discretion.  He  has  had  to  deal  with  a  class  of  professional 
showmen,  who  have  ever  been  on  the  alert  to  secure  all  the  advantages  possible  for 
the  least  compensation  they  could  induce  him  to  accept.  Many  difficulties  and 
vexatious  problems  have  arisen  which  have  taxed  his  splendid  business  ability 
to  the  utmost.  No  higher  praise  could  be  given  to  any  man  than  is  accorded  to 
him  in  the  acknowledged  fact  that  in  every  instance  he  has  protected  the  interests 
of  the  Exposition  in  exacting  from  concessionaires  the  full  value  of  the  privilege 
granted,  and  has  collected  from  them  nearly  every  dollar  they  agreed  to  pay. 
Both  he  and  his  worthy  superintendent  have  ever  been  on  the  alert  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  Exposition,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  work  of  this  department  is 
shown  by  the  financial  results  attained.  No  less  than  $276,112  has  been  received 
from  concessions,  which,  compared  with  like  receipts  from  other  Expositions, 
proves  that  fewer  mistakes  have  been  made  and  better  results  attained  than  at 
any  other  Exposition  ever  held  in  this  country.  Two  hundred  and  forty-five  con- 
cessions were  awarded  by  this  department,  and  the  Midway  at  this  Exposition  has 
excelled  the  amusement  features  of  all  other  smaller  Expositions  and  almost 
been  equal  in  point  of  excellence  to  that  of  the  great  World's  Fair.  The  orderly 
manner  in  which  all  concessions  have  been  conducted,  the  small  number  of  cases 
of  litigation  and  the  general  satisfaction  to  the  public  this  feature  of  our  Exposi- 
tion has  given,  commend  the  wisdom  in  the  selection  of  the  manager  who  has 
attained  these  results. 

"Serious  problems  of  finance  have  engaged  the  ability  and  ingenuity  of  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee.  Under  this  department  the  general  finances  of  the 
Exposition  have  been  conducted.  I  can  not  pass  this  opportunity  to  express 
appreciation  of  the  most  valuable  services  of  the  general  secretary.  While  he  has 
received  a  moderate  salary  for  his  services,  he  has  known  no  hours  of  recreation 
or  rest.  On  many  occasions  I  have  found  him  at  work  at  midnight,  and  to  his 
great  watchfulness  on  all  occasions  is  due  much  of  our  success.  The  manager 
of  this  department  has  organized  and  conducted  the  bureau  of  gates  and  admis- 
sions, the  bureau  of  music  and  special  attractions,  and  to  his  efficient  work  the 
public  is  indebted  for  many  of  the  high-class  musical  and  spectacular  features 
which  have  been  an  important  element  in  the  entertainment  of  all. 

"The  manager  of  the  Publicity  and  Promotion  Department  has  detailed  in  his 
address  the  enormous  work  accomplished  in  advertising  the  Exposition  and  pro- 
moting all  of  its  departments  throughout  the  country.  While  the  war  seriously 


484  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

impeded  the  work  of  this  department  for  a  time,  no  one  well  informed  denies 
that  Omaha  and  the  Exposition  are  now  well  known  throughout  the  entire  nation. 

"To  the  Transportation  Department  we  are  indebted  for  the  low  rate  secured 
for  exhibits  and  excursions.  Its  manager,  by  his  experience  in  transportation 
affairs,  has  always  been  able  properly  to  present  the  wishes  of  the  Exposition  to 
the  railway  officials,  on  whose  generosity  we,  from  the  start,  relied  for  much  of 
our  patronage;  and  while  the  rates  secured  have  not  always  been  satisfactory,  I 
doubt  if  the  results  could  have  been  as  great  in  the  hands  of  a  less  experienced 
and  able  man. 

"To  one  and  all  of  these  managers,  who  have  served  from  the  beginning 
without  compensation,  this  community  owes  a  debt  which  can  never  be  paid,  and 
while  it  is  usual  for  the  credit  of  a  great  battle  to  be  given  to  the  general  of  the 
war,  in  many  instances,  as  with  this  Exposition,  this  credit  is  equally  due  to  the 
efficient  services  of  his  assistants  and  to  the  common  soldiers,  which  includes 
nearly  every  representative  citizen  in  this  community,  for  all  have  worked  with 
one  purpose  to  build  up  this  enterprise  and  bring  it  to  the  large  measure  of  suc- 
cess it  has  attained.  This  Exposition  has  been  an  object  lesson  of  great  value  to 
this  community.  It  has  illustrated  what  can  be  accomplished  by  standing  together 
as  one  man  in  all  matters  of  common  interest.  Too  much  time  and  energy  has 
been  spent  in  the  past  in  seeking  to  destroy  the  influence  of  men  who  were 
willing  to  work  for  the  public  good,  and  the  result  of  this  great  achievement 
should  bring  into  closer  union  the  business  men  of  this  city  in  the  upbuilding  of 
what  in  the  next  few  years  must  be  one  of  the  great  commercial  centers  of  the 
world. 

"An  important  work  has  been  done  by  the  women  of  this  State  in  the  bureau 
of  education.  No  less  than  64  meetings,  many  of  them  of  national  importance, 
have  been  held  here  under  the  auspices  of  their  organization.  Men  and  women 
of  world-wide  reputation  have  been  brought  here  to  discuss  the  great  social, 
political,  economic  and  religious  topics  of  the  day,  and  future  history  will  record 
many  of  the  able  discussions  on  these  subjects.  The  bureau  of  entertainment  was 
well  conducted  by  the  ladies  of  this  city,  and  has  been  a  feature  of  the  Exposition 
that  has  pleased  thousands  of  visitors  who  have  partaken  of  the  hospitality  of  the 
well-ordered  rooms  provided  for  its  functions. 

"But  I  can  not  enumerate  the  faithful  services  of  all  those  deserving  praise 
for  their  work. 

"When  the  Exposition  was  completed  and  our  gates  were  opened,  special  days 
and  special  programs  were  found  necessary  to  interest  all  classes.  No  less  than 
143  special  days  were  arranged,  all  of  greater  or  less  importance,  each  one  bring- 
ing its  quota  of  visitors  who  might  not  have  come  but  for  the  special  features  of 
their  day.  Public  ceremonies  bringing  into  service  many  of  the  best  orators 
of  the  land  were  arranged.  The  culminating  event  of  the  year,  the  'Peace  Jubilee' 
week,  alone  witnessed  six  successful  celebrations  in  which  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  the  nation  participated.  It  has  been  my  humble  duty  since  the  opening 
of  the  Exposition  to  arrange  these  special  days,  to  meet  and  entertain  the  thou- 
sands of  prominent  guests  who  have  been  present,  and  to  satisfy,  as  well  as  my 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  485 

abilities  would  permit,  the  exacting  requirements  of  visitors  and  of  the  thousands 
connected  in  every  capacity  with  the  affairs  of  the  Exposition.  In  these  duties  I 
have  been  assisted  by  the  general  manager,  who  by  his  special  fitness  for  the 
work  has  made  many  friends  for  the  Exposition. 

"For  my  work  I  claim  no  special  credit.  As  a  citizen  of  this  community  I 
have  simply  discharged  my  duty.  From  the  start  I  saw  a  great  opportunity  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  all  the  people  of  this  city  and  of  the  entire  West.  My 
expectation  has  been  realized,  and  I  shall  retire  from  the  office,  with  which  the 
stockholders  and  directors  of  this  Exposition  have  honored  me,  with  the  con- 
sciousness that  my  every  act  has  been  inspired  by  pure  motives,  and  that  my 
best  efforts  have  been  given  at  all  times  during  evil  and  good  report  for  the 
success  of  the  enterprise  and  for  the  greatest  good  that  could  be  brought  out  of 
it  for  the  community,  the  State  and  the  country  it  has  advertised  in  a  manner  as 
never  before  to  the  world. 

"To  this  city  this  Exposition  has  been  like  a  rain  in  a  drouth.  It  has  put  new- 
life  and  energy  in  all  our  business  interests,  in  the  clearings  of  our  banks,  in  the 
business  of  our  merchants ;  to  the  values  of  our  real  estate,  to  the  fabrics  of  our 
factories,  it  has  brought  a  new  and  life-giving  influence.  Our  people  have  for- 
gotten the  evils  of  panic  and  depression  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  beauties  and 
pleasures  so  abundant  on  these  grounds.  To  the  State  and  to  the  entire  West  it 
has  given  a  new  standing  among  the  people  of  the  East  and  far-away  countries, 
which  will  influence  immigration  and  investment  in  all  future  years.  The  greatest 
benefits  are  still  to  come,  when  visitors  from  less  favored  climes  have  time  to 
think  of,  and  publish  the  good  impressions  they  have  received  of  the  country 
represented  here.  The  future  historians  of  the  West  will  record  great  impetus 
given  in  the  development  of  all  departments  of  its  industries  by  this  Exposition. 

"We  celebrate  today  its  closing  scene.  The  Trans-Mississippi  and  Interna- 
tional Exposition  can  never  be  repeated,  and  while  I  bid  God-speed  to  any  new 
company  of  enterprising  men  who  under  some  other  name  or  title  may  bring 
new  features  here  next  year,  I  sincerely  hope  that  the  lustre  of  our  assured  success 
will  not  be  dimmed  by  any  less  important  and  successful  subsequent  event. 

"But  I  must  pass  on  and  speak  of  the  financial  condition  of  this  corporation 
in  which  more  than  6,500  of  our  enterprising  citizens  are  interested.  No  sub- 
scriber or  donor,  large  or  small,  expected  to  receive  back  much,  if  any,  of  his 
contribution  in  dollars  and  cents.  The  money  necessary  to  promote  this  enterprise 
was  largely  subscribed  by  residents  or  corporations  directly  interested  in  Omaha. 
It  was  given  from  the  purses  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  and  when  once 
placed  in  the  treasury  of  this  corporation  it  became  to  me  a  sacred  trust  and 
in  its  use  the  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  have  guarded  it  with  jealous 
care.  Since  it  became  evident  that  a  surplus  would  be  left  after  the  gates  were 
finally  closed,  numerous  propositions  have  been  made  and  various  agencies  and 
individuals  have  endeavored  to  divert  this  surplus  to  other  public  enterprises, 
foreign  to  the  objects  of  the  corporation  to  which  it  belongs.  A  horde  of  clamor- 
ing claimants  seek  to  divide  the  spoils,  but  to  one  and  all  a  deaf  ear  has  been 


486  Trans-Mississippi  and  International  Exposition 

turned,  and  whatever  is  left  after  the  debts  and  obligations  are  discharged  will  be 
sacredly  returned  to  the  men  and  women  who  contributed  to  the  enterprise  in  its 
time  of  need. 

"To  me,  and  I  am  sure  to  each  member  of  the  Executive  Committee,  it  will 
be  the  proudest  moment  in  our  lives  when  we  can  pay  back,  as  we  hope  to  do, 
every  dollar  subcribed  to  the  stock  of  this  Exposition.  No  fears  need  be  enter- 
tained by  those  who  have  entrusted  us  with  this  sacred  fund,  that  it  will  not  be 
honestly  handled  in  the  future  as  it  has  been  in  the  past.  Not  one  dollar  can  be 
donated  to  the  men  whose  efforts  could  not  be  compensated  with  money,  and 
who  have  guarded  the  interests  of  this  Exposition  since  its  conception.  Not 
one  dollar  will  be  diverted  to  any  other  purpose  foreign  to  this  organization.  I 
favor  the  publication  of  a  true  history  of  this  great  achievement,  and  have 
appointed  a  committee  of  honorable  men,  whose  capacity  and  integrity  can  not  be 
questioned,  to  prepare  and  publish  thi-s  proud  record,  which  is  not  the  achieve- 
ment of  any  individual  or  set  of  men,  but  is  the  culmination  of  the  efforts  and 
sacrifices,  and  of  the  energy  and  enterprise  of  all  who  have  participated  in  its 
conception  or  triumphal  progress.  But  the  publication  of  the  history  may  not 
eventually  cost  the  Exposition  a  dollar.  The  first  edition  of  the  history  of  the 
Tennessee  Centennial,  a  respectable  volume  of  500  pages,  cost  $4,000,  and  was 
sold  in  advance  of  publication  at  a  profit  of  $1,000.  A  fund  has  been  set  aside  for 
the  payment  of  a  history  of  this  Exposition,  but  this  money  will  not  be  wasted, 
and  in  my  opinion  the  larger  part  will  be  returned  to  the  treasury  when  the 
work  has  been  published  and  sold. 

"I  have  carefully  compiled  a  statement  of  the  present  financial  condition  of 
this  corporation,  but  bare  figures  are  generally  uninteresting,  and  I  will  sum- 
marize as  follows : 

The  total  amount  of  stock  subscriptions  collected  and  paid  into  the 

treasury  on  October  28  was $   291,909.04 

The  total  donations  collected  to  that  day 163,070.20 

The  total  earnings  of  the  corporation  to  date 1,306,384.94 


Making  a  total  of  cash  receipts  from  all  sources  of $1,761,364.18 

Of  this  sum  there  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  and 

Treasurer  on  October  28 360,496.48 

Add  to  this  amount  the  known  and  estimated  earnings  and  collec- 
tions since  53,000.00 

The  good  notes  and  accounts  due,  not  including  unpaid  stock 

subscriptions  7,5oo .  oo 


Would  make  available  at  close  of  business  tonight $420,996.48 

Deduct  from  this  contract  balances  still  due $  21,985.02 

Estimated  monthly  and  weekly  payrolls  due  November   i 23,000.00 

Estimated  unpaid  bills  and  accounts 20,000.00        64,985.02 


Would   still  leave  available..  $356,011.46 


Proceedings  of  Special  Days  487 

"I  estimate  that  the  salvage  and  earnings  from  gates  and  concessions  will 
pay  expenses  of  cleaning  the  grounds,  and  closing  the  business  after  November  i. 

"It  is  estimated  that  of  the  $291,909.04  paid  on  account  of  stock  subscriptions, 
$20,000  represents  partial  payments,  leaving  at  this  date  about  $271,909.04  paid 
up  stock.  What  will  be  done  for  those  stock  subscribers  who  have  not  paid  up 
in  full  is  a  matter  for  future  determination.  In  any  event  the  collectible  sub- 
scriptions will  more  than  pay  any  sum  that  may  be  found  due  them. 

"Deducting  estimated  paid-up  stock,  $271,909.04,  from  available  assets,  would 
leave  for  contingent  liabilities  $84,102.42,  which,  it  would  seem,  was  sufficient 
to  cover  all  possible  claims  of  every  character. 

"If  these  estimates  are  correct,  it  will  be  seen  that  we  will  be  able  to  pay  our 
stockholders  in  full,  and  this  is  what  we  hope  to  do.  But  in  order  to  protect  the 
corporation  from  all  possible  liabilities,  I  shall  recommend  to  the  directors  that 
an  immediate  dividend  of  fifty  per  cent  be  declared  and  paid  without  delay  to  the 
stockholders  of  record  this  day. 

"I  trust  this  showing  may  be  as  satisfactory  to  the  stockholders  and  patrons 
of  this  Exposition  as  it  is  to  those  who  have  been  entrusted  with  its  management. 

"I  desire  to  express  my  sincere  appreciation  of  the  hearty  co-operation  I  have 
received  from  the  private  citizens  of  this  community,  from  all  who  have  partici- 
pated in  the  Exposition  from  other  States,  and  especially  from  the  board  of  fifty 
directors  who  have  honored  and  assisted  me  in  a  manner  unusual  in  public  enter- 
prises. By  this  co-operation  and  by  the  efficient  services  of  the  managers  of  the 
departments  a  grand  result  has  been  achieved,  which  will  stand  out  in  the  history 
of  the  West  as  the  crowning  feature  in  its  fifty  years  of  growth  and  develop- 
ment." 

After  the  exercises  a  banquet  was  served  in  the  cafe  to  the  officers  of  the 
Exposition,  city  and  county  officials,  members  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Commercial  Club,  the  board  of  governors  of  the 
Knights  of  Ak-Sar-Ben,  and  many  other  prominent  citizens  of  Omaha  who  had, 
one  and  all,  lent  their  aid  to  the  now  assured  success  of  the  Exposition.  Numerous 
toasts  were  responded  to  by  the  guests  of  the  officers  of  the  Exposition.  Many 
words  of  praise  were  spoken  of  their  efforts  and  regrets  expressed  that  the 
beautiful  White  City  with  all  its  enchantment  was  so  soon  to  be  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

In  the  evening  grand  spectacular  fireworks  were  witnessed  by  many  thou- 
sands, after  which  a  Grand  Carnival  on  the  streets  of  the  Midway  was  held,  and 
not  until  12  o'clock,  when  the  lights  for  the  last  time  went  out  on  the  Trans-Mis- 
sissippi and  International  Exposition  did  the  crowds  disperse. 


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